in the USA,” and “Cherry Bomb.” He also was a chief sponsor of the first Farm Aid concert, in 1985, which benefited distressed American farmers, and remained active on behalf of similar causes. Scarecrow (1985) and The Lonesome Jubilee (1987) were his commercial and artistic high points, exploring the impact of Ronald Reagan’s presidency on Middle America and producing the hits “Small Town,” “R.O.C.K. His lyrics grew more empathic, and his music acquired an incisive crackling power, largely owing to his supertight backing band. Although criticized by some at this stage of his career as a humourless self-important Bruce Springsteen manqué-patronizing his working-class subjects rather than celebrating them-Mellencamp suddenly matured as a songwriter. With two more big hits, “ Hurts So Good” and “ Jack and Diane,” the album American Fool (1982) made Mellencamp a star. His first two albums, released in the late 1970s, disappeared without a trace however, repackaged as a heartland rocker, he had his first hit, “I Need a Lover,” in late 1979. Growing up in southern Indiana-with which he is strongly identified-Mellencamp began playing in rock bands as a teenager. John Mellencamp, also called Johnny Cougar or John Cougar Mellencamp, (born October 7, 1951, Seymour, Indiana, U.S.), American singer-songwriter who became popular in the 1980s by creating basic, often folk-inflected hard rock and presenting himself as a champion of small-town values.
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