John Mellencamp Tickets Information
His professional music start came when he came to New York to sign with David Bowie's agent at the time who, reportedly, released Mellencamp's first album, a collection of cover songs entitled Chestnut Street Incident, under the stage name 'John Cougar', without Mellencamp's knowledge or approval.

After this album flopped, Mellencamp switched labels and released I Fought the Law, though not in the USA. In Australia, though, one of the songs on the album, "I Need a Lover", became a hit. He added this song to the list of tracks on his 1979 album, John Cougar, and saw it go to number 28, later to be recorded by Pat Benetar on her album In the Heat of the Night, though never being released as a single in the United States.

Mellencamp then strummed through two hit albums in the early 80's: Nothin' Matters And What If It Did and American Fool, the album that saw him really hit the big time. Hits from these two releases included: "This Time", "Ain't Even Done With The Night", "Hand to Hold Onto" and two of the songs he's most known for, even today, "Hurts So Good" and "Jack and Diane", the former spending 4 weeks in the #2 spot, the latter spending 4 weeks at #1.

His next album - Uh-Huh - saw the first of his name changes, this to John Cougar Mellencamp. It also saw the rise of two new Top 10 hits "Crumblin' Down" and "Pink Houses", as well as the popular "Authority Song". He followed that album up with Scarecrow, the album that gave us 3 Top 10 hits, "Small Town", "Lonely Ol' Night", and the anthemic "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A" as well as Top 40 singles "Rumble Seat" and "Rain on the Scarecrow". This was also the period of time that saw Mellencamp joining up with legends Willie Nelson and Neil Young in creating the Farm Aid benefit concert series.

After adding fiddler Lisa Germano to the group and rounding out the 80's with two more albums, The Lonesome Jubilee and Big Daddy, Mellencamp finally dropped the Cougar from his moniker altogether, and started recording and performing as the John Mellencamp we know him to be today.

John Mellencamp went on to release several more great albums throughout the '90's including a collection of covers called Rough Harvest and the critically-acclaimed Human Wheels. A true American artist, Mellencamp is a social advocate that makes his positions knows loud and clear, with his participation in the 2004 Vote for Change Tour and with songs like protest songs "L.U.V." and "Another Sunny Day" (off Dance Naked) and John Edward's campaign song, "Small Town", as well as "Peaceful World" and "Your Life is Now".

He continues in that outspoken patriotic tradition with his latest album, the 2007 release Freedom's Road featuring moving and inspiring songs like "Our Country", "Jim Crow" (with Joan Baez), and "Heaven is a Lonely Place".
 
The new John Mellencamp Tour kicks off October 26 at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Indiana and plays dates in the U.S. and Canada up through November 15 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis Missouri. Grab your John Mellencamp tickets while you still can.