Here’s Why John Mayer Has Donated Millions to Funding Research Into PTSD in Veterans

John Mayer isn’t waiting on the world to change, he’s taking steps to make it better himself. In a recent profile in The Hollywood Reporter, the singer-songwriter gave a rare look into something beyond music that he’s equally passionate about: finding answers to the issues experienced by veterans dealing with PTSD.

In the piece published Wednesday (July 22), Mayer reflected on becoming inspired to start funding research on veterans’ health in 2012 after visiting the wounded-warrior barracks at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., in the late 2000s. In 2019, he formally launched his Heart and Armor nonprofit, which seeks to advance research on PTSD symptoms — both mental and physical — experienced by soldiers as well as create resources for veterans in need.

“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 has named him 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.”

The studies Mayer has commissioned touch on subjects such as exercise, women’s eating habits, the psychological effects of military sexual trauma and more. He’s donated approximately $5 million of his own money to the cause to date, according to THR, partially in the hopes of destigmatizing certain struggles commonly associated with veterans facing 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 finds fulfillment in being of service in more ways than through his musicianship. “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.”

In tandem with his philanthropy, the Dead & Company player is also working on a new 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.) He last dropped an LP in 2021, reaching No. on the Billboard 200 with Sob Rock.

He’s previously found ways to unite his profession as a musician with his nonprofit’s cause. In 2025, he held a private concert to raise money for the University of California, San Francisco’s research into the role of sleep in veteran 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 said on stage at the time. “So thank you very much for being here.”