In the wake of the controversy sparked by a candid interview, John Mayer broke down in tears on stage, at a concert last night.

He'd already apologised for using a racial slur and for being a bit too descriptive of Jessica Simpson's bedroom habits.

But he wanted to further explain the regret he felt, at his comments made in his interview with Playboy: "In the quest to be clever, I completely forgot about the people that I love and that love me."

He said that, by joking with the media and courting controversy, he had entered a world of "selfishness and greediness and arrogance.

"I should have just given that up and played the guitar.

"I didn't. So I decided I would try to be as clever as possible all the time, and I did that at the expense of people that I love and that feels absolutely terrible."

At the gig in Nashville, Tennessee, he thanked his backing band for sticking by him: "I think it's important that you know that everybody on this stage is here playing with me not because they condone what I say in any interview.

"They're on this stage because they support myself as a possible future grown-up."

He later tweeted: "I just wanted to play the guitar for people. Everything else just sort of popped up and I improvised, and kept doubling down on it..."

John Mayer's Potent Pout