After months out of the public spotlight, John Mayer did an interview with MSNBC's Ronan Farrow to explain his ego addiction and why he is staying out of the tabloids. "I'm a recovered ego addict, and the only way that I can be sure that I don't relapse is to admit that I constantly have this ego addiction, every day," Mayer told Farrow. "So I do the Grammys and I go home because if I stay, I get high again."
Mayer said that social media, the tabloids and getting instant feedback about his performances and music fueled his addiction. He said that "his high-speed crash was an intellectual one" versus a drug- and alcohol-fueled downfall.
He noticed that his music was not making the impact he wanted when his song "Paper Doll" came out, and everyone was instead talking about his former relationship with Taylor Swift.
Mayer also blabbed about his love life all over the Internet and infamously to Playboy, where he called Jessica Simpson "sexual napalm." Even John knew saying that was a bad idea, but it took a while before he stepped back. "I went, 'All right, dude, you did a couple interviews where you were out of touch and you were being a ham -- and you were basically break dancing into a nitroglycerin plant, right?'"
But during the interview, the man behind Room for Squares also had some thoughts about the music industry. He told Farrow that most artists are "performing for Twitter mentions." He social media musicians have been self-conscious and constantly check to see how much of an impact they are making.
Mayer has, for the most part, stayed out of the spotlight over his personal life since 2013. The only other time Mayer has been in the news was for his cover of Beyoncé's "XO." Some of that might be due to the singer moving to Montana and away from Hollywood.
Mayer revealed that he is currently working on a new album.
