John Clayton Mayer is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-lived rock duo, Lo-Fi Masters. After their split, Mayer continued to play at local clubs, refining his skills and gaining a minor following. He performed at the 2000 South by Southwest festival, and was subsequently signed by Aware Records, an imprint of Columbia Records through which he released his debut extended play (EP),
Inside Wants Out (1999). His first two studio albums—
Room for Squares (2001) and
Heavier Things (2003)—were both met with critical and commercial success; the former won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for its single "Your Body Is a Wonderland", while the latter peaked atop the
Billboard 200.