How old is john cougar mellencamp

When she became pregnant, Mellencamp and Esterline tried to do the traditional thing and get married, but under Indiana law at the time it was , year-old Mellencamp wasn't old enough to do so without parental permission. But that's when the couple hit upon a solution. They eloped to Kentucky, the next state over. That marriage lasted a little over a decade, through Mellencamp's early career hurdles, stumbles, and dead-ends, but not when Mellencamp fell for another woman.

After seeing a photo of professional TV extra Vicky Granucci at a friend's house, Mellencamp fell in love, and they had fantastic chemistry. He and Esterline quickly split up so Mellencamp could marry Granucci who notably stars as Diane in Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane" video. Two months after they made it official, their first daughter, Teddi Jo Mellencamp was born.

History then repeated. Once more, the married Mellencamp would fall for a woman, leave his previous wife, marry the new one, and put her in a music video. This time it was Elaine Irwin, whom he met when she was the cover model for his album Whenever We Wanted.

Ten weeks after their first face-to-face, they were engaged, and in they married. She's also the star of his video for "Get a Leg Up. In , not long after his divorce was finalized, Mellencamp struck up an on-again, off-again relationship with movie star Meg Ryan , an endeavor that apparently left the rocker a little wounded. She hates me to death.

Indeed: After a year-long relationship with model Christie Brinkley, Mellencamp and Ryan reunited and as of November , are engaged. Already married with a kid before he could legally buy a beer, John Mellencamp still found a way to attend college in search of higher potential so as to provide for his family, enrolling as a communications major at Vincennes University, near his hometown of Seymour, Indiana. Unfortunately, he got caught in a couple of the traps that ensnare countless unsuspecting freshmen each and every fall: alcohol and marijuana, especially the latter.

I would lie there, listening to Roxy Music , right next to the record player so I wouldn't have to get up to flip the record over," Mellencamp told Rolling Stone in John Mellencamp left alcohol and marijuana behind, but he's not a man devoid of vice: He's an enthusiastic lifelong smoker.

According to a interview with CBS News , Mellencamp started puffing on cancer sticks at the tender age of 10, and he doesn't think more than five decades of the habit has been all that bad for him.

That theory may not carry too much weight, seeing as how Mellencamp suffered a heart attack in at the relatively young age of I called him everything in the book He said, 'John, you can say whatever you want to me or act any way you want, but a first-year medical student can tell you you've had a heart attack. John Mellencamp's road to fame and fortune as an authentic rock and roll singer was not traditional or short. By the time he scored his first top 30 hit in the U. And that came after he'd already recorded two other misbegotten albums that each failed in their own unique way.

In the early '90s, John Mellencamp decided to branch out from music and explore the world of moviemaking. His first foray was with the drama "Falling From Grace," which he both directed and starred in.

It tells the story of a country music star who returns home to Indiana with his wife and cheats with a hometown lover, repeating the spiraling lifestyle of his father. The film, which co-starred Mariel Hemingway, received mostly positive reviews despite not making major noise at the box office. The early '90s also meant new love for John Mellencamp: He began a relationship with fashion model Elaine Irwin, whom he met when she was hired to appear on the cover of his "Whenever We Wanted" album and in the music video for "Get A Leg Up.

Elaine was only 23 at the time of their union and John was 40 and already a grandfather. Two months later, John suffered a minor heart attack after a show at Jones Beach in New York that forced him to cancel the last few weeks of a tour.

It was just a terrible lifestyle. The couple seen here with Hud at the Grand Opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, in were married for nearly two decades before calling it quits in Both remained in Indiana to raise their children.

John Mellencamp soon returned to the stage. In the late '90s, John Mellencamp moved to Columbia Records and started making music he described to Guitar World Acoustic in as "Eastern, very grand stories, fairy tales. I may not be as good as they are, but I'm better than most. In , John got heavily involved with politics, participating in the Vote for Change tour in leading up to the U. He also performed at the Democratic National Convention that same year seen here. John had reached a point in his career where he could celebrate the incredible achievements of his lengthy career.

Starting in , John Mellencamp began releasing music produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, who rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the '70s and has received multiple Grammys for his work in film music. I'm through digging a ditch. John Mellencamp solidified his spot in music history when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of He was inducted by good friend Billy Joel, who explained the significance of John's impact during his speech.

They need to hear stories about it," Billy said. They need to know that somewhere out there somebody feels the way that they do in the small towns and in the big cities. They need to hear it. And it doesn't matter if they hear it on a jukebox, in the local gin mill, or in a goddamn truck commercial because they ain't gonna hear it on the radio any more. They don't care how they hear it as long as they hear it good and loud and clear the way you've always been saying it all along.

In — the same year he finalized his divorce from Elaine Irwin — John Mellencamp started seeing another famous blonde beauty: actress Meg Ryan. The pair seen here at Italy's Taormina Filmfest in were together for three years during which he wrote the score for her film "Ithaca. John Mellencamp wrote every note — everything — the tiny little needle drops you hear in the back," she said.

He's just incredible. Meg ended their engagemen t in Around this time, Mellencamp tried his hand at acting. He directed and starred in the feature Falling from Grace , a semi-autobiographical drama about a successful musician returning to his small-town roots. The screenplay was written by famed Western novelist Larry McMurtry. Continuing with his music, Mellencamp delivered Human Wheels , scoring solid radio play with its title track and "What if I Came Knocking.

However, that year Mellencamp had to abruptly cancel a tour after suffering a heart attack. This health crisis led to some lifestyle changes for the artist, who curbed a serious nicotine habit and began exercising. Returning to the studio, Mellencamp teamed with dance music producer Junior Vasquez to create Mr.

While no longer a mainstay on the pop charts, the artist continued churning out music that reflected his musings on life and middle age via the albums John Mellencamp , Rough Harvest and Cuttin' Heads He was also honored for his impressive body of work with the Billboard Century Award. Debuting at No. In , he found his music caught up in the midst of the election-year politics. That March, Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion he punctuated with a rousing rendition of "Authority Song," featuring his son Speck on guitar.

Not content to rest on past accomplishments, he then followed with another acclaimed album, Life, Death, Love and Freedom. The result was the stripped-down and earnest No Better Than This , which was released in August to strong reviews. Late that year, he announced he was separating from wife Elaine, and the divorce was finalized the following summer.

With decades of popular music success behind him, Mellencamp proved willing to explore new frontiers. A long-planned collaboration with novelist Stephen King finally came together in , when the production of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County began its run at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

Mellencamp wrote the songs for this Southern Gothic musical, about a pair of bickering siblings and the spirits that haunt their family. Around this time, Mellencamp also revealed his talents as a painter to a wider audience. Still, there was plenty of new music to create. In , Mellencamp released his first studio album in four years, the folk-and-blues infused Plain Spoken.