Following a tussle with his first record label about changing his name to Johnny Cougar, he was dropped from his record label after the first album. John Mellencamp received poor response from all the albums he released till 1980. During this time, he divorced his teenage girlfriend and married Vicky Granucci.
The release of his next album, American Fool, in 1982 brought him the success he long desired. Next album in line was Scarecrow which was released in 1985. During the rest of the decade, he released two more albums, but they didn't soar well. Meanwhile, he got his second divorce.
After two more albums in the early 1990s, the album Dance Naked of 1994 burned the charts and included the hit track "R.O.C.K in the USA".
While on a tour for promoting his new album, Mellencamp suffered a heart attack. After recovering from the heart attack, he released the album Mr. Happy go Lucky in 1996. He was signed up by Columbia Records and released a self-titled album with them in 1998 and then an album of song covers, named Rough Harvest, in 1999.He also did oil paintings in the meantime and they were shown at the Shricliff Gallery of Art for a number of days.After receiving a honorary degree from Indiana University, he released the album Cuttin' Heads in 2001. After that came the albums Trouble No More and Words and Music.
Freedom's Road was released in early 2007 and got him nominated for Grammy awards. The next year, in 2008, he released the album "Life, Death, Love and Freedom". John Mellencamp and Stephen King also team up to make a musical. In March of 2008, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Why is he famous?John Mellencamp is famous as a musician and has released more than 20 albums which include hit albums like Dance Naked and Cuttin' Heads.