Why Katy Perry And John Mayer Broke Off Their On-Off Relationship

John Mayer has dated some of the most well-known women in the entertainment industry. From Taylor Swift to Jennifer Anniston, Mayer's charm has gotten him into a few public relationships. Because of this, the musician notoriously became known for being a lady's man who never seemed to want to settle down. However, that all changed when he began his relationship with fellow musician, Katy Perry.

Perry and Mayer first connected shortly after the "Firework" singer divorced Russell Brand, per Gold Derby. Apparently, the two had a "long courtship" before going public and even exchanged love letters with each other, per Entertainment Weekly. The swoon-worthy letters blossomed into so much more as the couple became official. You couldn't see one without the other as they were always by each other's side. And seeing as the two are musicians, it was no surprise that their love life spilled into their professional world. The two wrote plenty of songs detailing their relationship, but the one that took fans by storm is their collaboration on the track "Who You Love." The two were head over heels for one another, but that didn't mean there weren't any difficulties.

The couple ended up breaking up several times throughout their on-again-off-again relationship. Three times to be exact, per Who. Even when the couple called it quits in 2014, fans believed they would find their way back to one another, but that didn't happen. And Mayer and Perry's reason for breaking it off was pretty interesting.

Katy Perry and John Mayer's two-year rollercoaster of a relationship showed the couple was infatuated with one another. This is why it was shocking they decided to call it quits in 2014, per E! News. The two musicians were hush-hush about the breakup and kept it under wraps for the most part. It wasn't until a source close to Mayer revealed to People that the couple was just "quite different."

Now, you may be thinking both Perry and Mayer are talented musicians living life in the public eye, but that's far from different. But, it turns out the two weren't at the same point in their lives. The source shared, "They're two very strong-willed people. Despite caring about each other very much and wanting to make it work, they are, at their core, quite different." At the time, Perry was 29 and Mayer was 36, and each had their own lifestyle. The outlet revealed that Perry still wanted to go out and party, whereas Mayer didn't. 

The source said, "At times they seemed really happy together and in love, and other times he seemed like he just wanted to get away from all the parties and go home. I can't say I always blamed him." Besides their differences, Perry's superstardom led her on another world tour, and at the end of the day, long-distance relationships are much more difficult to keep up with than just being single.

Going through a breakup is hard, dealing with it under a spotlight can be even worse. Katy Perry and John Mayer were both left with broken hearts after their breakup. They deeply loved one another, and for Mayer, it was hard to move past that.

The musician created music in the lull of the breakup as a way of healing. The "Gravity" singer spoke with The New York Times in 2017 about how his relationship with Perry was the inspiration for the track, "Still Feel Like Your Man." Mayer shared, "Who else would I be thinking about? And by the way, it's a testament to the fact that I have not dated a lot of people in the last five, six years." The lyrics of the track detail how Mayer still finds himself tied to Perry despite their relationship being over.

At the time, Perry was in another relationship with her future hubby, Orlando Bloom. As for Mayer, he was trying to get back into the dating scene, but it wasn't working out for him on the apps. He said, "It's just a lot of chatter. We all talk to the same people. There are very few people actually meeting up." Since his breakup from Perry in 2014, Mayer has remained single. As for the reasons why, no one really knows, but maybe Perry was "The One That Got Away."