John Mayer finalizes $45 MILLION deal to purchase Jim Henson’s fabled Muppets lot with director McG
More than a month after it was first reported that singer John Mayer is buying Jim Henson’s Muppets lot in Los Angeles, the deal has now closed.
The 47-year-old singer teamed up with Charlie’s Angels film director McG to purchase the lot, which was first reported in November as being worth $60 million.
Now that the ink is dry on the deal, TMZ reports that the deal closed for $45 million, with the new report also revealing the plan the new owners will implement.
Mayer will oversee the facility’s recording studio, while McG will manage other properties on the lot, located at the corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
The lot will undergo a name change at some point, although no decisions have been made on that front yet.
Although the name on the gates will change, the new owners plan to run the studio in the same way, while retaining all current employees.
More than a month after it was first reported that singer John Mayer is buying Jim Henson’s Muppets lot in Los Angeles, the deal has now closed.
The 47-year-old singer teamed up with Charlie’s Angels film director McG to purchase the lot, with the deal first reported in November to be worth $60 million.
Mayer already had an office on the lot, and both the singer and his partner McG prioritize preserving the famed studio’s history.
At the same time, they also want to maintain it as one of the West Coast’s top sound recording studios.
The lot was originally built in 1917 by silent film star Charlie Chaplin, who shot many of his classics there, such as City Lights, Modern Times and The Great Dictator.
He managed the lot until he left America in 1952, which led to him selling the lot and it becoming a new TV production facility called Kling Studios.
That lot became home to Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves before Red Skelton purchased the lot in 1960.
Hanna-Barbera Productions was established on the lot in 1957 and became home to such animated classics as The Flintstones and The Jetsons.
The lot was also owned by CBS from 1962 to 1966, when Perry Mason was filmed there, and by A&M Records from 1967 to 1999, where We Are the World was filmed.
Jim Henson’s children purchased the lot in 1999 for $12.5 million to make it the new home of The Jim Henson Company.
The company announced in June 2024 that they planned to sell the lot and merge The Jim Henson Company with Jim Henson’s Creture Shop in Burbank, all under one roof.
Mayer already had an office on the lot, and both the singer and his partner McG prioritize preserving the famed studio’s history.
The Henson Recording Studios that Mayer will oversee are home to albums recorded by artists from Peter Frampton and Styx to Lindsay Lohan and Soundgarden.
Joni Mitchell recorded 13 of her 19 studio albums on the lot, while Mayer himself recorded his 2021 album Sob Rock there.
The Henson Soundstage was used to create Ray Parker Jr.’s iconic Ghostbusters theme song music video. to film, and the TV series Soul Train was filmed there from 1981 to 1985.
Police’s music video Every Breath You Take was also filmed there, and Frank Ocean’s Blonde was also shot there.