John Mayer doesn’t want to be 'an a*shole'

The 'Gravity' singer thanked his fans for sticking by him following the recent controversy over his interview with Playboy magazine – in which he described ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson as "sexual napalm" and used the word "n****r" – and now wants to make a fresh start.

He told fans at his concert in New York's Madison Square Garden: "I hate to come off like an a*shole ever, and thank you guys for believing that I am not an a*shole.

"Never, ever in my entire life did I ever think that it would be a good idea to be an a*shole. But you know what? There's plenty of a*sholes who think the same thing, so I have to thank you.

"It's a clean me now, people, clean me."

The musician later took to twitter to praise the audience and appealed to his fans to get in touch to say they had made it home safely through the bad weather.

He tweeted: "MSG crowd, will you tweet me when you get home safe? It's bad out. Oh and HOLY SHNIKES. You were unreal tonight. (sic)"

In the interview Mayer - who has previously dated Jessica, Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz – also claimed his biggest dream is to write pornography.