John Mayer Is Learning to Play Dead Songs With One Less Finger After Injury

An unfortunate series of events involving John Mayer’s index finger and a truck door have rendered his left index finger unusable for the foreseeable future. The musician shared an image of his bandaged appendage on Instagram, where he revealed in the caption that he’ll only have three functioning fingers at his disposable during his upcoming performances with Dead & Company.

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“Last Thursday I injured my left index finger (truck door), and the first thing that went through my mind was ‘I really need that finger in a week,'” Mayer wrote. “I need all my fingers, but the left index is the team captain of my fretting hand. It will heal just fine, but will be out of commission for a while. In the meantime, I have spent every day practicing guitar using the other three fingers and I think I have it sounding pretty good!”

Dead & Company are currently stationed in Las Vegas, where their Dead Forever residency is being hosted at the Sphere. They have six performances remaining on the run, which concludes on Aug. 10. And to make matters ever so slightly worse for Mayer and his three working fingers, the band performs a unique set list every night, expanding the range of songs he’ll have to familiarize himself with all over again.

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“I’ve always felt like every part of me belongs to these shows, and it’s my responsibility to return to the stage each night without screwing up the equipment, and I’m sorry for the misadventure here,” said Mayer, who has been touring with the band as a guitarist since 2015. “The power of the music and the love for these shows will prevail! See ya tonight.”

After the residency concludes, it’s uncertain when Dead & Company will take the stage together again. They completed their “final tour” in 2023, then returned to Vegas on the technicality that they’re not actually touring if their shows are in the same place every night. “We will play shows — I have to believe that we love this music so much we’re gonna play the shows,” Mayer said on Watch What Happens Live in October 2023. “We just are trying to figure out what that looks like for the future. But everyone has it in their hearts to keep playing.”

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