More than a month after it was first reported that singer John Mayer is purchasing Jim Henson’s Muppets lot in Los Angeles, the deal is now finalized.
The 47-year-old singer teamed with Charlie’s Angels film director McG to buy the lot, with the deal first reported in November to be worth $60 million.
Now that the ink is dry on the deal, TMZ reports 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 manager other properties on the lot, nestled on the corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.
The lot will undergo a name change at some point, though no decisions have been made on that front.
While the name on the gates will change, the new owners plan on running the studio the same, retaining all of the current staffers.
More than a month after it was first reported that singer John Mayer is purchasing Jim Henson’s Muppets lot in Los Angeles , the deal is now finalized.
The 47-year-old singer teamed with Charlie’s Angels film director McG to buy 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 are prioritizing preserving the history of the famed studio.
At the same time, they also want to maintain it as one of the West Coast’s premiere sound recording studios.
The lot was originally constructed in 1917 by silent film star Charlie Chaplin, who shot many of his classics there like City Lights, Modern Times and The Great Dictator.
He controlled the lot until he left America in 1952, which resulted in him selling the lot and it becoming a new TV production facility dubbed 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 it became home to animated classics like The Flintstones and The Jetsons.
The lot was also owned by CBS from 1962 to 1966 when Perry Mason was filmed there, and A&M Records from 1967 to 1999, where We Are the World was recorded.
Jim Henson’s children bought the lot in 1999 for $12.5 million for it to be the new home of The Jim Henson Company.
The company announced in June 2024 they were planning on selling the lot, and merging 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 are prioritizing preserving the history of the famed studio.
The Henson Recording Studios that Mayer will oversee has been 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, with Mayer himself recording his 2021 album Sob Rock there.
The Henson Soundstage was used to film the iconic Ghostbusters theme song music video by Ray Parker Jr., and the TV series Soul Train filmed there from 1981 to 1985.
Police’s Every Breath You Take music video was also filmed there, and Frank Ocean’s Blonde was also recorded there.
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