Editing John Mellencamp (section)

===1976–1982: Performing as Johnny Cougar and John Cougar===
After 18 months of traveling between Indiana and New York City in 1974 and 1975, Mellencamp met [[Tony DeFries]] of MainMan Management, who was receptive to his music and image.<ref name=Wildcat>{{Cite news |url=https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/2005/11/01/mellencamp-wildcat-no-more/118095880/ |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |title=Mellencamp: wildcat no more |work=[[The Herald-Times]] |location=Bloomington, Indiana  |date=February 2, 1986}}</ref> DeFries insisted that Mellencamp's first album, ''[[Chestnut Street Incident]]'', a collection of [[cover version]]s and some original songs, be released under the stage name "Johnny Cougar", claiming that the name "Mellencamp" was too hard to market.<ref name=wragpret>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=roNfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2351%2C2851389 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=(Los Angeles Times)|last=Hunt |first=Dennis |title=Rock singer wages war against pretentiousness |date=December 7, 1980 |page=2D}}</ref> Mellencamp reluctantly agreed, but the album was a commercial failure, selling only 12,000 copies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wawzenek |first=Bryan|date=2016-10-03 |title=Inside John Mellencamp's Long Battle to Escape 'Johnny Cougar' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-cougar-john-mellencamp-name-change/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |language=en}}</ref>

Mellencamp recorded ''[[The Kid Inside]]'', the follow-up to ''Chestnut Street Incident'', in 1977. However, DeFries eventually decided against releasing the album, and Mellencamp was dropped from MCA records (DeFries finally released ''[[The Kid Inside]]'' in early 1983, after Mellencamp achieved stardom). Mellencamp drew interest from [[Rod Stewart]]'s manager, Billy Gaff, after parting ways with DeFries and was signed onto the small [[Riva Records]] label. At Gaff's request, Mellencamp moved to London, England, for nearly a year to record, promote, and tour behind 1978's ''[[A Biography]]''.<ref name=":0" /> The record wasn't released in the United States, but it yielded a top-five hit in Australia with "[[I Need a Lover]]."<ref name="Wildcat" /> Riva Records added "I Need a Lover" to Mellencamp's next album released in the United States, 1979's ''[[John Cougar (album)|John Cougar]]'', where the song became a No. 28 single in late 1979. [[Pat Benatar]] recorded "I Need a Lover" on her debut album ''[[In the Heat of the Night (Pat Benatar album)|In the Heat of the Night]]''.

In 1980, Mellencamp returned with the [[Steve Cropper]]-produced ''[[Nothin' Matters and What If It Did]]'', which yielded two Top 40 singles – "This Time" (No. 27) and "Ain't Even Done With the Night" (No. 17).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-07-27 |title=Why did John Mellencamp change his name? |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/why-did-john-mellencamp-change-his-name/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref> "The singles were stupid little pop songs," he told ''Record Magazine'' in 1983.

In 1982, Mellencamp released his breakthrough album, ''[[American Fool]]'', which contained the singles "[[Hurts So Good]]," an uptempo rock tune that spent four weeks at No. 2 and 16 weeks in the top 10, and "[[Jack & Diane]]," which was a No. 1 hit for four weeks.<ref name=":0" /> A third single, "Hand to Hold on To," made it to No. 19. "Hurts So Good" went on to win the [[Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance]] at the 25th [[Grammys]].