NEWS
"I get inspired to also be of use in some other kind of way [than music]," he said in a new interview.
John Mayer is not simply hoping the world improves. He is actively trying to create meaningful change. In a recent profile published by The Hollywood Reporter, the singer and songwriter discussed a cause outside music that has become deeply important to him: supporting research into the challenges veterans experience while living with PTSD.
The article, released Wednesday, July 22, explains that Mayer became interested in funding research into veterans’ health after visiting the wounded warrior barracks at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., during the late 2000s. He began financially supporting research in 2012 before officially establishing his nonprofit Heart and Armor in 2019. The organization works to improve understanding of both the physical and psychological symptoms of PTSD while developing helpful resources for former service members.
“I found myself so moved by it right there on the spot when talking to someone who had a traumatic brain injury and understanding viscerally what that feels like to hear them speak,” the guitarist told the publication, which selected him as one of its philanthropists of the year. “If you had asked me what PTSD was at the time, I would have given you a very narrow definition, but I never had the opportunity to even answer that question wrong. I just saw it, and I saw it in a very naked kind of way. I was moved by seeing people who speak beyond their injury.”
Research funded by Mayer has examined exercise, women’s eating behaviors, the mental impact of military sexual trauma and several other topics. According to THR, he has contributed around $5 million of his personal funds so far, partly because he wants to reduce the shame surrounding difficulties often experienced by veterans with PTSD.
“When you hear about these stories of how someone with PTSD ends up self-medicating, you understand it,” he explained. “If the only way to sleep after coming home is half a bottle of wine, that’s not choosing drinking over not drinking, you choose sleep over not sleeping.”
Mayer also values discovering ways to contribute beyond his career in music. “Dudley Moore was a great piano player, or Shaq was also a reserve sheriff,” he added. “John Travolta as a pilot … Kenny G invested in Starbucks. The lead singer of Iron Maiden flies the band. Any time I hear these things that don’t sound like boilerplate famous-person experiences, I get inspired to also be of use in some other kind of way.”
Alongside his charitable work, the Dead & Company musician is developing another album. “I’m investing all my time and energy into making a record so that when I come back out, I’ll have something to really present the world,” he told the publication. His most recent LP, Sob Rock, arrived in 2021 and appeared on the Billboard 200.
Mayer has previously combined his musical career with the mission of Heart and Armor. In 2025, he staged a private performance that generated funding for University of California, San Francisco research examining the connection between sleep and veterans’ health.
“I’ve heard some incredible things said to me and heard things said to others, by others, that really restored a lot of faith in me tonight,” he told the audience during that event. “So thank you very much for being here.”
