John Mayer Launches Sob Rock Records With Mercury Records, Shares “Tom and Jerry”

John Mayer now has a label of his own. Sob Rock Records launches in partnership with Universal Music’s Mercury Records, and its first release is “Tom and Jerry,” Mayer’s first solo single in five years.

The name is taken from his 2021 album Sob Rock, which was also his last release for Columbia after twenty-one years with the label. The imprint is positioned as the home for his ninth studio album, putting the infrastructure of his solo career under his own name rather than an inherited contract. Tyler Arnold and the Mercury team are named as partners in the arrangement; Mayer called the relationship one where the path from creative vision to execution has been straightforward, and said he feels inspired by what comes next.

“Tom and Jerry” was recorded at Chaplin Studios, the historic Hollywood lot Mayer acquired with director McG in early 2026. He co-produced the track with Blake Slatkin, and Serban Ghenea mixed it. The credits suggest a controlled return rather than a hurried one: a song made on his own property, with a producer and mixer chosen for precision.

The timing matters. Mayer has spent recent years fronting Dead & Company and creative directing their Sphere residencies, work that kept him in front of large audiences while placing his own catalog on hold. That changes on April 8, 2027, when he begins a twenty-one-show residency at the Las Vegas Sphere.

Between the label, the studio, and the residency, this is a solo career rebuilt as its own operation.