Hot Music Beat

John Mayer’s first single ‘Who Says’ off of his upcoming album doesn’t do much for me but the rumored second single is so much better. The song has recently surfaced and I really like it. Unlike the sparse and cutesy first single, ‘Heartbreak Warfare’ takes music lovers on much more of a sonic and emotional journey. The song may sound like a U2 rip off to most people but, let’s face it, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What is it going on and going wrong with singers releasing duds for first singles these days? Shakira, Rihanna, John Mayer – who will be next?

Katy Perry isn’t one to shy away from controversy and it seems that she’s not too shy on sharing her feelings about John Mayer either. A concertgoer tattled about a last minute lyric change in the ‘I Kissed a Girl’ singer’s New York City concerts last week. Katy swapped the lyrics in ‘You’re So Gay’ to take some digs at John. Katy sang “I’m so mean ’cause I cannot get you out of your head. I’m so angry ’cause you’d rather TWITTER instead. I can’t believe I fell in JOHN MAYER!” The original lyrics go “I’m so mean cause I cannot get you out of your head. I’m so angry cause you’d rather MySpace instead. I can’t believe I fell in love with someone that wears more make up than…”

John Mayer wasn’t able tospend the holidays with his girlfriend Jennifer Aniston. Instead, the singer spread some holiday cheer at the 95.5 WPLJ-FM’s 17th Annual Holiday Concert at Blythedale Children’s Hospital last week in Valhalla, New York. He liked doing charity more than getting some loving from Jen. The 31-year old musician joined Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas onstage for a rendition of Ben E. King’s classic ‘Stand By Me’. About 400 people turned out for the invitation-only concert, which hospital officials said raises about $250,000 a year. John and Rob weren’t alone in their causes though as they were also joined by musicians Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles.

John Mayer is going to be hosting a weekly variety show for CBS. Oh well, at least it isn’t a reality show. The 31-year old musician will produce his own show with Ken Ehrlich, who also produces the Emmys and Grammys. The 60s inspired sketch show is expected to be hitting the airwaves in the first quarter of 2009. It’s just rumors for now though as reps for both John and the network have declined to confirm the news. I hope it’s not true. I don’t think I can deal with that much douche bag. I already have to deal with writing about him being a douche, I don’t need to watch him being one.

Singer and songwriter Colbie Caillat was at the Rothbury Music Festival at the Double JJ Ranch this past weekend in Rothbury, Michigan. You can also catch the 23-year old musician as John Mayer’s opening act for his summer tour. Her first album reached the #5 spot on the Billboard charts and her single ‘Bubbly’ became an adult contemporary hit. When asked about performing, she says “I’ve always loved singing and writing songs and recording, but I had never grown up performing in front of people a lot. It was never my thing, I’d always try to avoid it, and now I have to do it every day.”