In John Mellencamp's Career, One Song Stands Above The Rest

Boiling down Grammy Award-winning musician John Mellencamp's extensive catalogue to the top-twenty or even top-ten best songs he ever recorded would be near impossible, but to try and find just one song that definitively defines Mellencamp and his long musical career, is impossible. That's because the rock legend has dozens of tunes that were not only big hits, but critically acclaimed as well, something that doesn't always go hand-in-hand. Add to that Mellencamp's marked musical evolution during a career spanning more than 40-plus years (and his name changes), and it's sometimes hard to connect the songs from his early years to those he still writes and performs decades later.

Mellencamp, whose career began in the mid-1970s, was renamed Johnny Cougar when he signed with his first manager in 1976 in New York (via Rolling Stone). By the time he had a hit song, he had already put out three albums, and he wasn't even singing the song. A rock legend in her own right, Pat Benetar recorded Mellencamp's "I Need a Lover" and turned it into her first big hit, but his version hit No. 1 in Australia (via Rolling Stone) and became a smaller hit in the U.S., finally putting him on the map. What followed were a string of hits that really touched upon his Indiana roots. He found a huge following among fans in the Heartland with hits like "Pink Houses," "Hurts So Good," ”Authority Song," "Lonely Ol' Night," "Small Town," and more (via Ultimate Classic Rock). And it didn't matter that he had since transitioned from Johnny Cougar to John "Cougar" Mellencamp back to plain John Mellencamp.