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John Mayer Talks Katy Perry, Why His World ‘Shattered’

Katy Perry and John Mayer attend the Sony Music Entertainment Post-Grammy Reception at The Palm on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Katy Perry and John Mayer attend the Sony Music Entertainment Post-Grammy Reception at the Palm on Jan. 26, 2014, in Los Angeles.Lester Cohen/Getty ImageLester Cohen/Getty Images for Sony Music Entertainments for Sony Music Entertainment

Ready for a comeback! John Mayer opened up about reviving his career after his disastrous 2012 interviews, his ex Katy Perry inspiring his new music and how he’s finally ready to settle down.

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Five years ago, the singer-songwriter gave infamous, cringeworthy interviews to Rolling Stone and Playboy, in which he referred to his ex Jessica Simpson as “sexual napalm” and called his penis “David Duke.” “What has to happen for a guy to believe that he’s totally well-adjusted and be that far out of touch?” he reflected in a new interview with the The New York Times. “My GPS was shattered, just shattered.”

After his self-imposed exile for the last few years, Mayer, 39, started writing music for his new album, The Search for Everything, in late 2014. “I’m a young guy. I like girls. I want girls to like me. I want to make music and be thought of as attractive,” he told the newspaper. “I was finally ready to reenter that world and grow back into it.”

The seven-time Grammy winner admitted that the song “Still Feel Like Your Man” was inspired by Perry, who he dated on and off from 2012 to 2013. “Who else would I be thinking about?” he told the newspaper. “And by the way, it’s a testament to the fact that I have not dated a lot of people in the last five, six years. That was my only relationship. So it’s like, give me this, people.”

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The “Say” singer — whose famous exes also include Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Taylor Swift — explained that he wanted to take his album beyond just breakup anthems. “There were times when tears came out of me, and I went, OK, John, this is not about an on-again, off-again relationship,” he said. “This is something more profound.”

Since Mayer and the pop superstar, 32, called it quits, he said he’s been using an unnamed exclusive dating app, but he hasn’t gone out much. “It’s just a lot of chatter,” he said. “We all talk to the same people. There are very few people actually meeting up.”

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The “Your Body Is a Wonderland” crooner, who revealed that he recently quit drinking and has been in therapy to work on his “attachment style,” is ready for a family as his 40th birthday approaches. “I wish there was somebody to throw me the 40th,” he said. “I want the baby with the protective earphones [by the side of the stage].” He added that he’s been living out of a hotel, but longs for a home. “I want to say, ‘We’ll take it.’ … I’m right on time for my career, and I’m running late for my life.”

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