John Mayer

Many detractors assumed John Mayer would never replicate the crossover smash status of his GRAMMY®-winning single "Your Body Is a Wonderland." Yet the slinky-voiced singer/songwriter has surpassed expectations with every release since. The whimsical torch ballad "Daughters" snared hearts everywhere and earned Mayer a Song of the Year GRAMMY®, while 2006's Continuum extended the plaudit-fiesta with its effortless cool. There's more from rock's renaissance man in Next Steps.

When John Mayer announced he was going the barroom blues route with his John Mayer Trio and the live album TRY!, the decision seemed like a necessary indulgence at first but quickly revealed itself as a clear creative transition between his genteel acoustic beginnings and later electric work. "Hummingbird" is a career-high duet with the legendary B.B. King; and "Who Did You Think I Was" rattles and rolls like the loosest of jam sessions.

It took John Mayer only a year to turn a brief brush with classical training at Boston's Berklee College of Music into a buzz-worthy music career beginning with the easy, breezy Inside Wants Out. Quickly touted as a silky-smooth successor to Dave Matthews, Mayer met that expectation while constantly hinting at something more. Sometimes that has meant a stripped-back, self-assured blues approach (Continuum, TRY!); other times, a heartfelt way with hook-filled pop both you and your mom can enjoy (Room for Squares, Heavier Things). All the while, Mayer has quietly become a confident and accomplished voice of his generation.