JOHN MELLENCAMP

By Jeremy Pyszczynski

Life HistoryJohn Mellencamp was born October 7, 1951 in Seymour Indiana, with a form of spina bifida that was a potentially crippling neural tube defect that required surgery and a lengthy hospitalization. After defeating this health issue Mellencamp became a self-proclaimed rebel, he impregnated his girlfriend at 17 and then worked a series of blue collar jobs for several years. Mellencamp then moved to New York to start his music career. His First debut was in 1976 with the album titled “Chestnut Street Incident.” However, the producer convinced him to change his name to John Cougar so he sounded less like the hillbilly he was. This deal went south and he only sold 12,000 copies. Then during the early eighties Mellencamp took back is old name, and eventually became popular as an American rock singer-songwriter. He was known for his catchy blend of rock, country and folk music, also known as heartland rock.

AccomplishmentsMellencamp has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has had 22 Top 40 hits. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number-one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. Mellencamp has been nominated for a staggering 13 Grammy Awards, winning one, (Best Male Rock Performer for "Hurts So Good" in 1982). Other honors Mellencamp has received include the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef Special Music Industry Humanitarian Award (1991), the Billboard Century Award (2001), the Woody Guthrie Award (2003), and the ASCAP Foundation Champion Award (2007). Lastly, In 2008 Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Opinion

I have been listening to John Mellencamp’s music since I was a young child. I was mostly influenced by my father who was in his mid 20’s when Mellencamp became big. Also as a young child I loved country and rock music, and Mellencamp is a perfect blend of the two styles. As I grew older I became a stronger follower of Mellencamp because of two reasons. One is that his lyrics are often about small town, rural America which is where I am from. The songs “Jack and Diane”, and “Small Town” convey this theme and are my two favorite songs that remind me of my childhood. The second reason I continued to follow John Mellencamp is because I like how he stands up for for the social issues he believes in. The most important one is the farmers of America. Mellencamp is one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. The Farm Aid concerts have remained an annual event over the past 28 years, and as of 2014 the organization has raised over $45 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.

Pictured from left to right are the founding members of farm Aid: Neil Young, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews.

Video Clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1kyCQsxjec