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Bruce Springsteen is getting some unfavorable comparisons to John Mellencamp following the latter's meltdown at a recent show. The musician walked off after getting into it with a heckler. Now, fans are saying Springsteen and Mellencamp are cut from the same cloth. Taking to social media, several critics blasted Mellencamp and also brought Springsteen into the conversation. Critics claim that both Mellencamp and Springsteen are out of touch with the fanbase that once propped them up. One person wrote, "I have seen JCM five times. Just like Springsteen, these guys used to be in touch with the common man. They...

Singer-songwriter John Mellencamp has detailed the startling surgical procedure that saved his life as an infant. Mellencamp, who was born with spina bifida – a condition where the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord are not properly connected, leaving the spinal cord exposed – underwent the pioneering operation not long after he was born in 1951. "I had my head cut off when I was six weeks old," Mellencamp tells Esquire. "There were three other kids who had that same operation that day. The other kids died, and I lived. One girl made it for a while,...

Liberal comedian Bill Maher got into a tense exchange with musician John Mellencamp on Monday after the "Pink Houses" singer-songwriter claimed only 1% or 2% of Black people living in America today have better lives than slaves. During an appearance on Maher's "Club Random Podcast," Mellencamp revealed he wrote a song called "From the Cotton Field to the Playing Fields" that he never recorded because he believed it was "wrong." The song’s message was an attempt to show how White people love to have Black entertainers and often exploit them.

Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood. Dylan was in Long Branch, about a two-hour drive south of New York City, on July 23 as part of a tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp that was to play at a baseball stadium in nearby Lakewood. A 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification, Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley said Friday. "I don't think she was familiar with his...

Exactly one week after the highly-publicized arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates stirred a national discussion on race relations, legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was detained by police officers in a "low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood" in Long Branch, New Jersey. Makes one wonder why it took so long for this to get reported, and if news outlets that were convinced Gates's arrest was racially motivated will see the delicious irony in a white rock star being questioned by police just because he was "wandering around the neighborhood." The Associated Press sure didn't (h/t Clarence Page): Rock legend Bob Dylan was...

The rocker John Mellencamp is a longtime Democrat who refused to allow his songs to be used by Republican Sen. John McCain on the 2008 presidential campaign. But when it comes to McCain's 2008 running mate, Sarah Palin, Mellencamp may be changing his tune. Mellencamp told the Associated Press on Friday that he admires the former Alaska governor, and that people get the wrong idea about Palin, "just because she says things and winks." To achieve what Palin has accomplished thus far requires intelligence, and Mellencamp said Palin "knows exactly what's she doing." "She wouldn't be where she is today...

John Cougar Mellencamp, the famous crooner behind “Jack & Diane,” supported Obama in 2008 and even asked the McCain campaign to stop using his songs for rallies. But the AP reported Friday morning that the singer has been vocal in his admiration for someone else of late: Sarah Palin. “The legendary rocker says that while he doesn't support her positions, he is impressed by the mark she's made on the country since the 2008 election,” the AP reports.

Rocker John Mellencamp said on Tuesday that the Internet was the most dangerous invention since the atomic bomb, although new technology could paradoxically delay the inevitable demise of rock 'n' roll. But before then, "some smart people, the China-Russians or something" may have already conquered America by hacking into the power grid and financial system, he warned during a public seminar at the Grammy Museum. Mellencamp, 58, has established a reputation during his career as a bit of a loose cannon disdainful of music industry niceties. He still lives in his home state of Indiana, saying he never fit in...

John Mellencamp, the iconic rocker made famous by his songs about growing up in a small town, may be ready to move to the big city. Speculation is swirling that the liberal Mellencamp may put down his guitar and run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Evan Bayh. The Indiana Democrat announced Monday that he will not seek election to a third term in November, sending party leaders scrambling for a viable replacement and boosting Republican hopes of winning the seat. Indiana is generally considered a Republican state, though it went for Barack Obama in 2008. Support for...

On the surface to a casual observer the 2008 Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame class appears to be fairly strong and rather non-controversial. Three of the five artists being enshrined in the main performer category are very well deserving, including one of the most dominant artists in rock history. They also have seen fit to give overdue recognition to some long eligible figures in other categories and so on the whole this year's inductees are a solid group deserving of their honors.

I don't want to completely stick my neck out on this, because when you hope something is true, it clouds your judgemenet (as Dan Rather has found out!)But it appears to me that tickets are available at all the gigs for the "swing states" pro-Kerry/anti-Bush tour. Curiously, New York and New York have not been added to this "swing states" tour. Odd. Now, this is not 1980, but it seems even the Springsteen shows still have tickets available. A bad sign for the left?

As part of an effort to inspire people to vote for change this November, the coalition of artists who are participating in this Fall’s 36 city, 12 state Vote For Change tour will come together for a grand finale performance in Washington, DC on October 11 at the MCI Center. This, as with all Vote For Change shows, is presented by MoveOn PAC to benefit America Coming Together (ACT). (I edited out the stuff on where to buy tickets and the phone number to call, in keeping with FR rules against selling stuff from the site...click on the link to...

If you're confused and need direction this political season, hold tight, because you can be sure that a rock star will be along shortly to show you the way. Musicians, some loosely defined, are mobilizing big-time this year to oust Bush. A CD, titled "Rock Against Bush, Vol. I," was released earlier this year, purportedly to raise money for organizations which encourage young people to vote. Bands such as Sum 41, Offspring, New Found Glory and Jello Biafra with D.O.A. are included on the compact disc – I believe the latter is also included on the dessert menu.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) John Mellencamp's no stranger to politics, but the current presidential campaign is bringing out a newfound activism He's joining Bruce Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks, Kenny ``Babyface'' Edmonds and other musicians to campaign against President Bush's re-election in an series of concerts in nine swing states in October. Mellencamp tells The Herald-Times of Bloomington in an interview published today that he wasn't very politically active before the current administration. But things are different now because he feels the current mood in the country is silencing voices of protest.

When the Dixie Chicks made their snide comment about President Bush, hundreds if not thousands of people lined up at radio stations across America to dump their Dixie Chicks CD's.Let's face it, artists are paid to entertain us, they are the jesters of society and true they are allowed to have a personal opinion, they should keep their opinion to themselves and not use their social position to promote their idealology. We all have an opion but few of us have a sounding board to share our opinion with thousands of people.Some folks commented that dumping their Chicks CD's did...