John Mayer marked Dolly Parton's death during a private SiriusXM performance at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, New York, on August 26.
Before playing "Gravity", he performed a solo guitar version of "I Will Always Love You", the song Parton wrote and first recorded in 1974 and which Whitney Houston turned into a global standard in 1992. Parton had died the previous day.
In an interview with Andy Cohen that airs alongside the performance, Mayer described her as the rare artist who could galvanize a very fractured world. He added that this is what a life well lived looks like, feels like and sounds like.
The rest of the set stayed with his own catalogue. With a full band behind him he worked through Continuum favourites including "Belief", "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" and "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room", alongside "Last Train Home", "I Guess I Just Feel Like", "Wild Blue" and "New Light" from Sob Rock. Cohen introduced the show by calling it the hardest ticket in the Hamptons for many years.
The visit was built out beyond the venue. Eight Amagansett businesses served food and drinks named after his songs from Saturday through Wednesday, among them a Frozen Rosie cocktail whose proceeds go to his Heart and Armor Foundation, which works on veteran health.
The full performance airs on Saturday at 8pm ET on Life With John Mayer, with the Cohen interview running Friday on Radio Andy. Parton, who died at 80, was honoured from stages across the week, and the show is listed with the rest of the rock and pop dates on the tour guide.
The facts
- The private SiriusXM show was at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett on August 26
- Mayer played a solo guitar version of I Will Always Love You
- It came before Gravity in the set
- The set list drew on Continuum and Sob Rock
- The performance airs Saturday at 8pm ET on Life With John Mayer
- Eight Amagansett businesses served food and drinks named after his songs
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