I can usually tolerate John Mayer’s Instagram page unlike his general personality. John just turned 40 and he dedicated a couple of posts to that, as is appropriate for such a milestone celebration. According to his official birthday post, he turned 40 on a plane, which, I dunno, sounds kind of cool. Like “I was somewhere over Cuba when I turned 40,” makes for a good story. But John had a much splashier way to mark the occasion: a diamond necklace. Now we’re talking – a little bling, baby. But not just any ol’ diamond necklace, a diamond encrusted likeness of The Dude from The Big Lebowski. According to John’s post, he had jeweler-cum-friend, Ben Baller of If & Co. create the custom piece. He was so excited, he posted the following video:
Sorry, but I have no complaints here. This is the way The Dude deserves to be shown. I love that the clip is just of him gently turning the masterpiece so it catches light from every angle while Bob Dylan’s The Man in Me plays in the background. This isn’t my kind of jewelry but the work is amazing. You can read more detail about it from Ben on GQ. Apparently, the idea was conceived while they were both on separate planes. (I sense a plane theme for John’s 40s.) The back is inscribed with one of The Dude’s quotes “yah, well, that’s just like, your opinion, man.” Truth be told, I like The Big Lebowski but never got into the cult devotion of it. I think its popularity is great, the movie just didn’t hit that sweet spot for me. However, I am a Jeff Bridges devotee so any reference to him or his likeness fills me with joy. So, whereas I probably wouldn’t wear this necklace, I might use it as a rosary and stroke it each night as I prayed to Jeff for good things to happen in the world.
But this isn’t about me and Jeff, sadly. This is about John and The Dude, which, according to People, has been a long standing thing. Their sleuths dug around and found this pic from 2014:
So, as you can see, it’s only natural that John would come full circle and have a talisman made of his spirit guide.
Where was John headed as he turned 40? To San Paulo, Brazil for the last leg of his Search for Everything Tour. Of his new music, John said he is finally, “finally the artist I want to be, and I’m writing what I want to write,” which all sounds like a great way to go into one’s 40s. Hopefully that soul-searching and self-discovery extended past just his music.
And, maybe it has, because John did something wonderful recently. A few days before John turned 40, his father, Richard Mayer, turned 90. John posted this cute Instagram which encouraged his fans to leave “doting comments” for his dad:
This particular story got some traction because one of the commenters was John’s ex Katy Perry who wrote, “Looking fantastic as ever! Happy birthday friend.” That’s not too evocative but given the amount these two have been dropping each other’s names in the press lately, it caught people’s attention. However, the cool – and much less publicized – thing John did was he started a college scholarship in his dad’s name with the Fairfield County’s Community Foundation in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Papa Mayer was a high school principal in Bridgeport for 42 years and was floored by the honor. Something else I just learned, this is actually the third fund John has set up for the foundation. So just as all John’s anxiety and stress was cancelled due to his Dude necklace, I am cancelling any snark directed at him this week for his good deed *grabs The Dude rosary* pleasedon’tdoanythingdouchey, pleasedon’tdoanythingdouchey
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Instagram
That’s awesome. And if I had the money I’d do the same thing.
I missed The Dude somehow, so to me this is just one mega hideous extra expensive piece of bling I can’t imagine anyone wearing! I’m not the right audience, obviously.
I’m right with ya.
Yeah, I don’t get it either
Same here. Bling, no bling… I think John Mayer will always be a bit of a tosser.
Well, i watched the movie but it didn’t make THAT kind of impression on me. That is one FUGLY necklace! And how would he wear it? With extra buttons undone to flaunt it? Ugh ….
I crashed into Jeff Bridges in a restaurant one night. I wasn’t watching where I was running while talking on my phone, dealing with a family crisis, and he stood up from his booth as I was running by. Bang! I was totally mortified but he couldn’t have been nicer or more charming about it. The Dude abides. Jeff Bridges tributes should be everywhere.
I love your story! If I had my pick of which celebrity (which he is so much more than) I could hang out with for a day he’d be my #1 pick.
He was delightful. He even swung me around in a dance move. He was with one of his daughters too and she was just laughing.
I would have been so giddy, beside myself and speechless all at the same time!
Baaaahhaaa, finally a shiny light hearted thread, due to John Mayer. The apocalypse is here lol.
We are huge fans of the movie. One of my homies dressed as the dude for a Halloween party and only drank white Russians the whole night.
As I’ve grown older and moved away from pop radio, I’ve found that I actually really like John’s music. I feel like he’d do better if Adult Contemporary radio was still a thing (I mean, it’s still a thing, but not like it used to be).
Stop this Train always makes me cry, I just love that song.
I love the Dude but all I can see on that chain is Richard Branson
Oh my goodness, John’s father is so adorable!. John looks as though his head is getting larger, similar to Leo’s big ole head.
WAIT. If John is 40 and his dad is 90…his dad had him when he was 50? Damn. He’s douchey as hell but I would eff his brains out if I got the chance.
I love everything about this post. The Dude abides. Also please note the White Russian in the back of his IG post!