Music News & Videos

By Saimon Kos

The calendar flipped again, which is why it's time for another installment of "2010 in 30," where we look back at the month that was. Don't sell these last 28 days short, because plenty went down during the year's smallest month. So let's take a second (or 30, to be exact) and look back the all the things that made February so memorable.

After January's tragic earthquake in Haiti, February brought celebs from all walks of life together to remake "We Are the World." Elsewhere in the entertainment world, "Lost" returned!

In sports, The Saints marched all the way to a Super Bowl win. But fellow New Orleans native Lil Wayne delayed his jail sentence because of his teeth.

Much further north, the Winter Olympics kicked off in Vancouver. Meanwhile, John Mayer went way off the map in an interview in Playboy.

In band relationship news, Fall Out Boy seems to have broken up, while Aerosmith officially got themselves back together.

There was whimsy, too, as Conan O'Brien and Lil Wayne both join Twitter. Kevin Smith and LMFAO's Sky Blu both grabbed headlines for getting kicked off of planes (though for very different reasons).

Sadly, we ended the month with another tragedy, as Chile was hit with a destructive earthquake. Hopefully March will bring an outpouring of support that country the way the rest of the world came to bat for Haiti.

That about covers it. Enjoy the video below and be sure to tune in at the end of March, when we break it down all over again.

Photo: Coppola/Getty

John Mayer the musician has been carefully cultivating John Mayer the brand over the last 10 years. He’s merged his acoustic singer-songwriter persona with his blues-virtuoso alter-ego, developed the logos on his tour T-shirts and spat out streams of 140-character tweets that broadcast his most off-the-cuff musings. But though he clearly knows how to get results on his own terms, sometimes the terms aren’t his to define — and as his recent Playboy misadventure demonstrated, even Mayer can hit a painfully wrong note. But at a pair of packed shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden late last week, Mayer proved sometimes he’s able to just let his music do the talking.

John Mayer Uncensored: photos of his most outrageous moments.

“You’re looking at the clean me,” Mayer announced midway through Thursday night’s set. Then he launched into a solo acoustic medley of “My Stupid Mouth,” “Daughters” and “3X5″ that was immediately followed by a groovy cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” on electric guitar. It was an impressive display of his sharp guitar playing, appealing sing-alongs and personable wit, and the audience responded generously. Mayer was clearly grateful for the crowd’s warmth. “It means the world to me you’re here,” he said on Friday. “I mean it from the bottom of my dumb heart.”

Mayer was less concerned with sending messages via his song selection than picking tracks that showed off his evolution as an artist: the acoustic (”Why Georgia”), the bluesy (”Crossroads”), the groovy (”Vultures”), the heartbroken (”Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”) and the hopeful (”Perfectly Lonely”). Mayer also acknowledged his inspirations with covers of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’ ” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which he cleverly slipped into the Mac-flavored “Half of My Heart.”

Though his winter arena tour comes with hi-tech production — a massive lighting rig, mesh curtain and a giant projection screen — Mayer switched the set up each night, keeping the focus on the music. On Thursday, he honored a fan chant with an impromptu version of his love letter to the city, Room for Squares‘ “City Love,” and pulled in lyrics from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” during “Gravity.” On Friday he exuded a more relaxed energy, breaking out a sultry take on “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)” and a buoyant “Good Love Is on the Way.”

Go inside Mayer’s recent RS cover shoot.

On both nights, Mayer seemed to savor the audience’s reaction to the line “It’s a long night in New York City” from “Who Says.” And perhaps feeling safe in his adopted hometown, Mayer got vulnerable during Friday’s show-closing “Gravity,” and debuted new lyrics that seem inspired by his Playboy fallout. He explained his new theory, that “lovelessness leads to loneliness, which leads to sadness, which leads to anger, which leads to hate” and spoke of imperfect batting averages. Then he sang:

“When you got hurt/it made you beautiful/the cracks around your heart/they let the light shine through./When you got hurt/in pieces on the floor/put them back together/even better than before”

The moment over, he finished the show in expected Mayer fashion: with an explosive solo that had him jamming on his knees with his guitar on the floor, moving forward, in the best way he knows how.

Set Lists:

Thursday, February 25th:
“Heartbreak Warfare”
“Crossroads”
“Vultures”
“No Such Thing”
“Perfectly Lonely”
“Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”
“Assassin”
“My Stupid Mouth” -> “Daughters” -> “3×5″ (medley)
“Ain’t No Sunshine”
“Waiting on the World to Change”
“Bigger Than My Body”
“Why Georgia”
“City Love” (tease)
“Gravity”
Encore:
“Who Says”
“Friends, Lovers or Nothing”

Friday, February 26th:
“Heartbreak Warfare”
“Good Love is On the Way”
“Vultures”
“Perfectly Lonely”
“I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)”
“Comfortable”
“Free Fallin’”
“Waiting On The World To Change (w/ Michael Franti)”
“Assassin”
“Crossroads”
“Belief”
“Half of My Heart”
“Why Georgia”
“No Such Thing”
Encore:
“Who Says”
“Gravity”

Related Stories:

• John Mayer Apologizes for Using “N-Word” in Raw Interview
• John Mayer Debuts Battle Studies at Intimate New York Gig
• John Mayer on His Biggest Hits, Tabloid Enemies and Endless Search for Love

Even though we were only providing news, insight and humor for four days this week (thanks, President's Day!), there was still a remarkable amount of excellent news tumbling out of the Internet and onto the MTV Newsroom Blog. It was a fantastic batch of stories featuring an eclectic batch of stars, from John Mayer and Lady Gaga to Mitt Romney and Olympic skier Hannah Kearney.

If you've like us, you're going to spend your weekend seeing "Shutter Island," wishing the snow would melt and maintaining a nasty case of Olympic Fever. But before you indulge in all of that, be sure to catch up with everything you might have missed.

» After she won a trio of prizes and made jaws drop with her performance at the Brit Awards, Lady Gaga threw her support behind a series of designer condoms. Practice safe sex, Little Monsters!

» John Mayer's Playboy controversy appears to have blown over, but that didn't stop us from analyzing some select lyrics from Mayer's catalog. We still can't believe he has a song called "My Stupid Mouth."

» We celebrated Mardi Gras this week with a playlist featuring Lil Wayne, Better Than Ezra and Miley Cyrus.

» There was no shortage of Winter Olympics coverage this week, including an interview with Hannah Kearney, the first U.S. gold medal winner in Vancouver.

» Also, even if everything at the Olympics had been a total disaster, at least the Winter Olympics mascots are adorable.

» In news that doesn't involve athletes, filmmaker Kevin Smith got into an argument with Southwest Airlines over his weight, which put him in an exclusive club with Snoop Dogg, Peter Buck and Courtney Love.

» It shouldn't shock you, but it turns out producer RedOne really loves the new version of "We Are the World," which he worked on.

» The late night landscape got a new wrinkle, as rumors surfaced that Kevin Eubanks would no longer be serving as the band leader on "The Tonight Show." If that turns out to be true, Jay Leno should recruit Ben Folds or Randy Newman to take the job.

» "American Idol" revealed the Top 24 this week, but the bigger "Idol" news came when Jim Cantiello sat down with Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta for a summit before a show.

» Also on the "Idol" front, we learned that the Top 24 will all be tweeting throughout the season, which made us consider the best Twitter accounts by former "Idol" contestants. Who knew Alex Wagner-Trugman was so essential?

» In the greatest culture clash of all time, Mitt Romney got into a confrontation with LMFAO on an airplane, and hilarity ensued.

» For 12 minutes on Friday, Tiger Woods took over the airwaves to apologize to everybody he has ever met (and plenty he hasn't).

» Finally, please take a few minutes to check out Jared Leto's thoughts on the 30 Seconds to Mars video for "Kings and Queens." It's a thoughtful piece from a passionate artist, and even if you don't care for the band or the song, you have to admire Leto's passion.

By Saimon Kos

With another Fat Tuesday having come and gone, it's time to shake off your hangover and decide what you'll give up for Lent. John Mayer might want to take the opportunity on this Ash Wednesday to spend the next 40 days abstaining from any and all media interaction. The general consensus in the Midwest and on the east coast is that everybody would love to give up these snow storms, unless of course you enjoy getting a few extra days off from school. As far as I'm concerned, it's time to give up all those things that really don't seem to add much value to my daily dose of pop culture.

For starters, I need to stop paying attention to the crazy that is Tila Tequila and her manufactured Twitter drama. It's a soap opera that can quickly suck you in, but usually leaves me feeling dirty for caring enough to read her mile-a-minute posts. So for the next 40 days, no more Tila — and for that matter, no more following celeb Twitters that have no inherent value. (Don't worry Taylor Swift, we're not ready to abstain from you yet.)

I also think I'm ready to say no to vampires for a while. 2009 was a huge year for bloodsuckers, so without offending any "Twilight" super fans, I think a little more than a month off from all their movies, books and music is what I need in my life. Sorry Vampire Weekend, I guess I'll catch up with you after Easter. And don't worry "True Blood," you don't come back until June, so we can pick right up where we left off.

Finally, I think it's only fair that I give up something that will actually be a bit of a challenge. So for this Lent, I'm giving up "Jersey Shore." I watched every episode religiously and up until now I've been paying attention to the cast with undivided attention. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up in Jersey, but this crew has always had a special place in my heart. That being said, now that I know they'll be back for season two, I'm ready to turn away for a while. 40 days without a Snooki update or a check in with the Situation's latest, uh, situation won't be easy, but once their second season arrives, having taken a break will make it that much sweeter.

So that's it — my list of abstentions for the next 40 days. Hopefully I can stay strong and abstain from these guilty pleasures, and come out a better man for it. But probably not.

Are you giving up anything this season? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

By Joel Hanek

In light of the recent controversial Playboy interview (where John Mayer was apparently auditioning for Howard Stern's job, should Stern bolt the "shock jock" chair in favor of "American Idol"), fans and critics alike will be eager to hear how he addresses the situation in his music moving forward. But what about his back catalog? Did any of his old lyrics raise red flags? Does anything sound particularly ironic now? Let's look at five notable entries.

"Your Body is a Wonderland"
In this sultry-yet-sweet ballad from Mayer's debut album, the singer-songwriter croons about one of his favorite interview topics. Mayer describes his lady as having "candy lips and a bubblegum tongue" (quite the apt metaphor for a tune as saccharine as this). Then again, since his Playboy interview, I've completely second guessed the meaning of all his metaphors. After all, he compared Jessica Simpson to "crack cocaine" ("I want to quit my life and just f---ing snort you"). So what does this mean? Are "candy lips" and "bubblegum tongue" really just street names for airplane glue and whippits? (Probably not.)

"My Stupid Mouth"
I guess this song isn't so much ironic as it is now painfully literal. Is it a correct self-diagnosis or just a premonition from a prognosticator with a laissez-faire sentiment about the future? While he does paint clever imagery of the uncomfortable situation when one places their pride behind them and tucks his tail between his legs, it's now difficult to tell what Mayer is really thinking. After all, as we learned from the interview, Mayer's life is dictated by two heads. "My d--- is sort of like a white supremacist. I've got a Benetton heart and a f---ing David Duke c---. I'm going to start dating separately from my d---."

"Daughters"
Obviously influenced in equal part by Sigmund Freud and Don Draper, Mayer acoustically warned fathers to be good to their daughters because — according to Dr. Mayer — parents influence the modes in which their children will socially interact as adults. This tribute to the Elektra complex surely had to win John Mayer some honorary Woman's Studies degrees. If it wasn't this song that did it, then it had to be when he said, "I now make the choice to sleep with Jessica Simpson."

"Say"
This carpe diem anthem for a movie about two lovable terminally ill old guys prods the listener to live in the moment and "Say what you need to say." If you take Mayer's example though, the song's meaning doesn't end after the chorus fades out. Nay! Say what you need to say, then say a little more, then say unabashedly crude and tactless things about former lovers and humans in general. So say what you need to say (until you realize they are horrible, horrible things, then quickly apologize).

"No Such Thing"
I was watching Zach Galifianakis' hilarious-but-canceled VH1 late night talk show when I first heard John Mayer. As that night's musical guest, Mayer came out and performed his debut single "No Such Thing." The driving song thumped along while Mayer's breathy voice transmitted a theme song about being a kid. As I was in high school at the time, I completely related to what the man was preaching. I felt like he totally captured what it was like being a teenager: Feeling simultaneously vulnerable and invincible, embracing nostalgia yet ready to rise above the past, the need to be an individual but the desire for approval. The teenage years are when you don't know how (or you're not ready) to act like an adult just yet, and that's okay. Problematically, it seems like Mayer may still be figuring things out (even though it has been 13 years since he's been a teenager). This song ends up being ironic: It's the song that first made the world appreciate the man, but it's also the first reminder of how things have soured.

What do you think? Will you still listen to John Mayer? Do you think he should address this situation in his lyrics in the future? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

As MTV News reported earlier, tomorrow’s Michael Jackson tribute will feature (among others) Stevie Wonder, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Mariah Carey. Carey has a history with Jackson, having covered the Jackson 5’s hit “I’ll Be There” on her episode of “MTV Unplugged” back in 1992. The song (and live acoustic video) became a big hit for Carey, hitting the top of the charts shortly after its release. Early rumor suggests that she’ll be performing that very song at tomorrow’s memorial, which will be a fitting epitaph to Jackson’s long and storied career.

We’ll have wall-to-wall coverage of the memorial tomorrow, so be sure to stay tuned here, to MTV News and to the network where we’ll have constant updates. It promises to be a memorable event — especially if Carey busts out her best pipes and brings duet partner Trey Lorenz along for the ride.