John Mellencamp

This article is about the singer. For the music album see John Mellencamp (album) .

John Mellencamp (2015)

John Mellencamp (also known as Johnny Cougar , John Cougar or John Cougar Mellencamp ; born October 7, 1951 in Seymour , Indiana , USA ) is an American rock and folk singer . In Germany he had some success in the mid-1980s with hits like Hurt's So Good and Jack & Diane . While this development went almost unnoticed in Europe , Mellencamp still regularly has top 20 hits in the USA.

Life

Start time

Mellencamp had a difficult childhood and adolescence, during which he came into conflict with the law several times. He became a father for the first time at the age of 19. When his daughter Michelle had children at the age of 18, he became a grandfather for the first time at 37. The latter later favored his election as the “sexiest grandfather alive” in a women's magazine. When Mellencamp lost his job at the age of 24, he went to New York to become a musician. He was discovered by Tony DeFries , then agent David Bowies , who got him a contract with MCA Records .

In 1976 his first album Chestnut Street Incident was released , about half of which consisted of cover songs . At the time of publication, there were initial tensions between Mellencamp and DeFries, as DeFries had renamed Mellencamp Johnny Cougar without his knowledge . Because the album flopped, the MCA did not release a second, already recorded album, The Kid Inside , at first. It wasn't until 1982, when Mellencamp suddenly landed a number one hit with Jack & Diane , that the album was finally released. In 1977/1978 Mellencamp moved to England for a few months . There was the LP A Biography , which was released in 1978 on the Riva label, but only in England, Australia and Germany. In the USA the album remained unreleased until a CD reissue in 2005.

First hits

With a new manager and a new record company, John Cougar appeared in 1979 , which brought him his first, smaller success with the song I Need a Lover . In 1980 Nothin 'Matters and What If It Did followed , but it wasn't until 1982 that his breakthrough came with the album American Fool . The singles Jack & Diane and provocative, with SM -studded -Andeutungen Hurts So Good made him in the US overnight star. In 1983 he published under the name John Cougar Mellencamp Uh-Huh , another rock album with his biggest hit Pink Houses . From 1985 he began with Scarecrow to gradually develop into a folk musician who thematizes the problems of the American rural and small town population. Together with Willie Nelson , he organized Farm Aid , an annual benefit event for American farmers since then. Until then classified as an easy listening (light music) rocker, he has now become a serious musician. The chain smoker also caused a stir when he strictly refused to have alcohol and tobacco companies fund his tours.

Turning to folk

It was on The Lonesome Jubilee in 1987 that Mellencamp moved away from classical rock instrumentation for the first time and introduced acoustic instruments such as the violin and accordion into his music. So he created his own sound, which should have a strong influence on musicians like Garth Brooks , Sheryl Crow and ultimately Bruce Springsteen on his comeback album The Rising, which was released in 2002 . In 1989 Mellencamp developed this style further with the album Big Daddy , before returning to pure guitar rock in 1991 with Whenever We Wanted . Not all fans embraced the melancholy, oppressive sound on Human Wheels in 1993 . Nevertheless, Mellencamp had another hit in Europe in 1994, this time with a cover version of Van Morrison's Wild Night . A heart attack limited his career. Since then he has hardly performed outside of the USA and shortened his concerts from three hours to just under 90 minutes.

After the heart attack

Mellencamp became a vegetarian on medical advice . Halfway recovered in health, he recorded Mr. Happy Go Lucky (in German: "Herr Sorglos") in 1996 , his last album for Mercury Records with completely new material. Musically, he returned to his experimental phase of Human Wheels and occasionally also worked with modern hip-hop elements for the first time. Since he was still contractually bound to Mercury for two albums, he gave the approval for a best-of album and recorded another album with mainly acoustic reinterpretations of some of his hits, which Mercury released with a delay in 1999.

In 1998 his first album for Columbia was released with the title John Mellencamp . Musically, he largely returned to the folk sound with which he had enjoyed great success from the mid-1980s. At the same time, he continued his experiments with hip-hop rhythms on some of the songs. On the album Cuttin 'Heads (2001) Chuck D supports rap legend Public Enemy in the title song Mellencamp , apart from that the folk sound carried by the violin dominates. The single Peaceful World , actually a song about racism in America, was reinterpreted as a soul comforter after the 9/11 attacks.

Folk roots, boycotts and politics

In 2003 Mellencamp went further back to its roots than before. On Trouble No More he interpreted American folklore songs, from the following legend Woody Guthrie to the blues of Robert Johnson and Son House . In conservative parts of America this album was boycotted because Mellencamp recorded the traditional folk song From Baltimore to Washington under the title To Washington with a new text that critically dealt with the term of office of George W. Bush . The traditional country and folk channels in the Midwest then refused to play songs from the album. Nevertheless, it reached number 1 on the blues charts.

In 2004 he campaigned for the election of John Kerry on the Vote for Change Tour . In the same year, Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits , another best-of album, was released. In addition to the biggest hits like Hurts So Good , Jack & Diane , Human Wheels and Wild Night , the double CD contains two new songs, Walk Tall and Thank You . In 2005 he toured with rock musician John Fogerty . All albums from his time at Mercury Records were re-released this year in the USA with a remastered sound and a rare bonus track each.

Freedom's Road

John Mellencamp sings at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (2007)

Freedom's Road was released in January 2007 . It was John Mellencamp's first album exclusively with new compositions after five years. For the marketing of the album, Mellencamp broke new ground by offering the first single Our Country to an American automobile manufacturer who used it in a commercial for a new truck . Mellencamp justified this step with the fact that the big music channels hardly played his videos anymore and he had to look for new ways to promote new material .

The album itself can be seen as a personal commentary on the current political situation in the USA. In the typical style of the American protest song, Mellencamp paints a gloomy picture of America today, but at the same time evokes its ideals. It is no coincidence that the first single Our Country is reminiscent of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land , and for Jim Crow he brought Joan Baez into the studio for a duet. The last track Rodeo Clown , a biting criticism of George Bush's politics , is not listed on the album and is hidden behind the last track. On February 10, 2007, Freedom's Road debuted at number 5 on the Billboard album charts . It was the highest chart entry in Mellencamp's career.

At the beginning of 2008 Mellencamp announced his new album Life, Death, Love and Freedom , in which he again focuses primarily on America's social problems. The first single Jena , a song about the case of the so-called Jena Six , provoked an angry reply from the mayor of the city of Jena (Louisiana) . The album, produced by T-Bone Burnett , was released in mid-July 2008. In addition to the standard CD, it also contains a DVD on which the complete album is contained in the new sound standard CODE. This standard is intended to enable maximum sound quality on conventional playback devices without audible differences to the original master.

No Better Than This

The album No Better Than This was released on August 17th, 2010. With the work, which was produced by T-Bone Burnett, is a rough mixture of blues, country, rockabilly and western. Mainly it turns to the folk. Mellencamp himself said of the album that it was "as American folk as I've ever been". The album was recorded entirely in mono on a tape recorder from the 1950s with a single room microphone. Mellencamp's next album Plain Spoken was released in 2014. Together with singer Carlene Carter , he finally released his next album, Sad Clowns and Hillbillies, in 2017 .

musical

Mellencamp is directing the musical adaptation of Stephen King's novel Showtime .

Honor

Together with Leonard Cohen , The Dave Clark Five , The Ventures and Madonna , John Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 . The ceremony took place at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel .

Private

In November 2018, actress Meg Ryan announced her engagement to Mellencamp.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1979	John Cougar	-	-	-	-	US64 gold (29 weeks)US	First published: July 27, 1979
1980	Nothin 'Matters and What If It Did	-	-	-	-	US37 platinum (55 weeks)US	First published: July 28, 1980
1982	American Fool	-	-	-	UK37 (6 weeks) UK	US1 × 5 Quintuple platinum (106 weeks)US	First published: July 10, 1982
1983	Uh-huh	-	-	-	UK92 (1 week) UK	US9 × 3 Triple platinum (66 weeks)US	First published: November 8, 1983
1985	Scarecrow	-	-	-	-	US2 × 5 Quintuple platinum (75 weeks)US	First published: November 4, 1985
1987	The Lonesome Jubilee	DE41 (7 weeks) DE	-	CH10 (8 weeks) CH	UK31 (12 weeks) UK	US6th × 3 Triple platinum (53 weeks)US	First published: August 24, 1987
1989	Big daddy	DE27 (17 weeks) DE	-	CH11 (10 weeks) CH	UK25 (4 weeks) UK	US7th platinum (23 weeks)US	First published: May 9, 1989
1991	Whenever We Wanted	DE44 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH16 (5 weeks) CH	UK39 (2 weeks) UK	US17th platinum (46 weeks)US	First published: October 8, 1991
1993	Human Wheels	DE48 (8 weeks) DE	-	CH18 (6 weeks) CH	UK37 (2 weeks) UK	US7th platinum (24 weeks)US	First published: September 7, 1993
1994	Dance Naked	-	-	CH32 (4 weeks) CH	-	US13 platinum (30 weeks)US	First published: June 21, 1994
1996	Mr. Happy Go Lucky	DE53 (5 weeks) DE	-	CH37 (5 weeks) CH	UK82 (1 week) UK	US9 platinum (30 weeks)US	First published: September 10, 1996
1998	John Mellencamp	-	-	CH48 (1 week) CH	-	US41 gold (20 weeks)US	First published: October 6, 1998
1999	Rough Harvest	-	-	-	-	US99 (4 weeks) US	First published: August 17, 1999
2001	Cuttin 'heads	DE99 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	US15th gold (15 weeks)US	First published: October 16, 2001
2003	Trouble No More	-	-	-	-	US31 (7 weeks) US	First published: June 3, 2003
2007	Freedom's Road	-	-	-	-	US5 (9 weeks) US	First published: January 23, 2007
2008	Life, Death, Love and Freedom	-	-	-	-	US7 (8 weeks) US	First published: July 15, 2008
2010	No Better Than This	DE62 (1 week) DE	-	CH83 (1 week) CH	-	US10 (8 weeks) US	First published: August 17, 2010
2014	Plain Spoken	DE84 (1 week) DE	-	CH58 (1 week) CH	-	US18 (4 weeks) US	First published: September 19, 2014
2017	Sad clowns and hillbillies	DE52 (1 week) DE	AT69 (1 week) AT	CH28 (2 weeks) CH	UK78 (1 week) UK	US11 (2 weeks) US	featuring Carlene Carter First published: April 28, 2017
2018	Other people's stuff	-	-	CH70 (1 week) CH	-	US7 (1 week) US	First published: December 7, 2018

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1997	The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988	-	-	-	UK25 (4 weeks) UK	US33 × 3 Triple platinum (63 weeks)US	First published: November 18, 1997
2004	Words & Music: Greatest Hits	-	-	-	-	US13 platinum (18 weeks)US	First published: October 19, 2004

More albums

• 1976: Chestnut Street Incident
• 1978: A Biography
• 1983: The Kid Inside
• 1986: The Collection (UK:silver)
• 2007: 20th Century Masters: The Best of
• 2009: Life, Death, Live and Freedom (Live)
• 2010: On the Rural Route 7609 (4-CD box)
• 2013: Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (musical album)
• 2014: Performes Trouble No More Live at Town Hall (Live)
• 2018: Plain Spoken - From the Chicago Theater (Live)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1979	I need a lover John Cougar	-	-	-	-	US28 (14 weeks) US	First published: September 1979
1980	Small Paradise John Cougar	-	-	-	-	US87 (3 weeks) US	First published: January 1980
	This Time Nothin 'Matters and What If It Did	-	-	-	-	US27 (17 weeks) US	First published: September 1980
1981	Ain't Even Done With the Night Nothin 'Matters and What If It Did	-	-	-	-	US17 (21 weeks) US	First published: January 1981
1982	Hurts So Good American Fool	-	-	-	-	US2 gold (28 weeks)US	First published: February 22, 1982
	Jack & Diane American Fool	-	-	-	UK25 (8 weeks) UK	US1 gold (22 weeks)US	First published: August 9, 1982
	Hand to Hold On To American Fool	-	-	-	UK89 (2 weeks) UK	US19 (18 weeks) US	First published: October 1982
1983	Crumblin 'Down Uh-Huh	-	-	-	-	US9 (16 weeks) US	First published: September 1983
	Pink Houses Uh-Huh	-	-	-	-	US8 (16 weeks) US	First published: November 1983
1984	Authority song Uh-Huh	-	-	-	-	US15 (15 weeks) US	First published: February 1984
1985	Lonely Ol 'Night Scarecrow	-	-	-	-	US6 (20 weeks) US	First published: August 1985
	Small Town Scarecrow	-	-	-	UK53 (6 weeks) UK	US6 (18 weeks) US	First published: May 1984
1986	ROCK in the USA Scarecrow	-	-	-	UK67 (6 weeks) UK	US2 (17 weeks) US	First published: January 1986
	Rain on the Scarecrow Scarecrow	-	-	-	-	US21 (12 weeks) US	First published: April 1986
	Rumbleseat Scarecrow	-	-	-	-	US28 (13 weeks) US	First published: June 1986
1987	Paper in Fire The Lonesome Jubilee	-	-	-	UK86 (4 weeks) UK	US9 (16 weeks) US	First published: August 1987
	Cherry Bomb The Lonesome Jubilee	-	-	-	-	US8 (21 weeks) US	First published: October 1987
1988	Check It Out The Lonesome Jubilee	-	-	-	UK96 (1 week) UK	US14 (15 weeks) US	First published: January 1988
	Rooty Toot Toot The Lonesome Jubilee	-	-	-	-	US61 (8 weeks) US	First published: May 1988
1989	Pop Singer Big Daddy	DE87 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	UK93 (2 weeks) UK	US15 (12 weeks) US	First published: April 1989
	Jackie Brown Big Daddy	-	-	-	-	US48 (8 weeks) US	First published: July 1989
1991	Get a Leg Up Whenever We Wanted	-	-	-	-	US14 (15 weeks) US	First published: September 1991
	Again Tonight Whenever We Wanted	-	-	-	-	US36 (13 weeks) US	First published: December 1991
1993	Human Wheels Human Wheels	-	-	-	-	US48 (14 weeks) US	First published: September 1993
1994	Wild Night Dance Naked	DE55 (11 weeks) DE	-	-	UK34 (3 weeks) UK	US3 (42 weeks) US	First published: May 1994 ( feat.Meshell Ndegeocello )
	Dance Naked Dance Naked	-	-	-	-	US41 (17 weeks) US	First published: October 1994
1996	Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First) Mr. Happy Go Lucky	-	-	-	UK83 (1 week) UK	US14 (24 weeks) US	First published: August 1996
	Just Another Day Mr. Happy Go Lucky	-	-	-	-	US46 (20 weeks) US	First published: November 1996
1999	Your Life Is Now John Mellencamp	DE92 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: February 1999
	I'm Not Running Anymore John Mellencamp	DE100 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: September 1999
2006	Our Country Freedom’s Road	-	-	-	-	US88 (1 week) US	First published: November 2006

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Canada 1981: for the album Nothin 'Matters and What If It Did 1986: for the single ROCK in the USA 1988: for the single Cherry Bomb 1988: for the single Check It Out Platinum record  Canada 1982: for the single Jack & Diane 1982: for the single Hurts So Good 1992: for the album Whenever We Wanted 1993: for the album Human Wheels 1994: for the album Dance Naked 1998: for the album Mr. Happy Go Lucky 1998: for the album The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988  New Zealand 1989: for the album The Lonesome Jubilee

2 × platinum record  Canada 1989: for the album Big Daddy 5 × platinum record  Canada 1988: for the album American Fool 1992: for the album Uh-Huh 1992: for the album Scarecrow 6 × platinum record  Canada 1987: for the album The Lonesome Jubilee

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	-	4 × gold4th	30 × platinum30th	3,200,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	-	platinum1	15,000	nztop40.co.nz
United States (RIAA)	-	5 × gold5	26 × platinum26th	29,500,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	-	-	60,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	9 × gold9	57 × platinum57

swell

1. ↑ biography (English)
2. ↑ Stephen King Slashing His Way to Joyland . Accessed April 10, 2012
3. ↑ Meg Ryan announces engagement to John Mellencamp. Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 8, 2018, accessed on August 19, 2020 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

Web links

Commons : John Mellencamp  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• John Mellencamp's website
• John Mellencamp: The State of the Music Business . (German translation)
• John Mellencamp - Biography at NetGlimse ( Memento from February 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive )