{"id":2236346,"date":"2026-01-15T18:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2236346"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:12:17","slug":"john-mellencamp-will-r-o-c-k-in-the-usa-this-summer-with-jukebox-tour-of-his-biggest-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/john-mellencamp-will-r-o-c-k-in-the-usa-this-summer-with-jukebox-tour-of-his-biggest-hits\/","title":{"rendered":"John Mellencamp will R.O.C.K. in the USA this summer with &#8216;jukebox&#8217; tour of his biggest hits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Not every musician has the pull to announce a concert tour with a trailer that stars Sean Penn.<\/p>\n<p>John Mellencamp does. The 74-year-old rocker revealed Wednesday that he\u2019ll embark on a 19-date run of US amphitheaters this summer. The theme of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/14\/ticket-sales\/john-mellencamp-dancing-words-tour-2026-where-to-buy-tickets\/\">\u201cDancing Words Tour \u2014 The Greatest Hits\u201d <\/a>is as the name suggests, Mellencamp\u2019s most extensive rendering of his best-known songs in decades.<\/p>\n<p>In the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tzgcgHUOGDI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">short film<\/a>, Mellencamp and Penn are sitting in a diner, the rocker saying he\u2019s been asked to do a \u201cgreatest hits\u201d tour. He seems reluctant.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><button class=\"button button--modal-trigger\" aria-label=\"Open the image in a modal.\" data-modal-image=\"38192513\"><br \/>\n\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"icon-plus\" fill=\"#fff\" viewbox=\"0 0 1033 1000\" width=\"1em\" height=\"1em\"><path d=\"M380 364V0h273v355h380v290H653v355H380V645H0V355h380v9z\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38192513\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"John Mellencamp performs during Farm Aid on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023, in Noblesville, Ind. \" class=\"wp-image-38192513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 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https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=322,215&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=662,441&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 662w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=90,60&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 90w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=120,80&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 120w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=1200,800&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 1200w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=1038,692&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 1038w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=87,58&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 87w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=50,33&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 50w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/john-mellencamp-performs-farm-aid-118844836.jpg?resize=150,100&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 885px) 100vw, 885px\"\/><figcaption>John Mellencamp announced a 19-stop US tour this summer that will feature his biggest hit songs. <span class=\"credit\">Amy Harris\/Invision\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cGod forbid you become generous with your hits and the soundtrack of people\u2019s lives,\u201d Penn said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine you would do that. Maybe actually let yourself enjoy it. Just because they\u2019re hits doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not great songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-two of Mellencamp\u2019s songs made Billboard\u2019s Top 40 between 1979 and 1996. Ten made the Top 10, with the peak being the four-week run of \u201cJack &amp; Diane\u201d at No. 1 in 1982.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s not like he never performs hits like \u201cPink Houses,\u201d \u201cHurts So Good,\u201d \u201cSmall Town\u201d and \u201cLonely Ol\u2019 Night.\u201d He\u2019ll mix some in with whatever new material he\u2019s promoting. But he hasn\u2019t rolled out some hits live in a while \u2014 \u201cI Need a Lover,\u201d not since 2005; the Van Morrison cover \u201cWild Nights,\u201d last heard live in 1997; \u201cRumbleseat\u201d in 1992; \u201cR.O.C.K. in the USA (A Salute to \u2018\u201960s Rock)\u201d in 2014. He\u2019s never played \u201cRooty Toot Toot\u201d live.<\/p>\n<p>This summer\u2019s show will be like the jukebox in the diner where the two men sit \u2014 stocked with nothing but his hits.<\/p>\n<p>A waitress walks over and orders the cantankerous men to put out their cigarettes. Her nametag says \u201cDiane,\u201d of course. The jukebox roars to life with \u201cJack &amp; Diane\u201d and the diner \u201cpatrons\u201d sing along.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Mellencamp Dancing Words Tour The Greatest Hits | 2026 Official Announce\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tzgcgHUOGDI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s do it,\u201d Mellencamp says.<\/p>\n<p>He sat down recently with The Associated Press to talk about his plans, where he\u2019s again lightly scolded about his smoking. But it\u2019s over Zoom. It\u2019s not illegal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS:<\/strong> The video with Sean Penn gives the impression that you are kind of dragged into this. How much of that is real and how much of that is acting?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP:<\/strong> About 20 years ago, I was doing a thing at Madison Square Garden for\u00a0Pete Seeger\u00a0(Eds. note: it was 2009). I was talking to Pete and I went, \u201chow do you like this, you know?\u201d And Pete went, well, it\u2019s all right occasionally. And I said, you wouldn\u2019t want to play these types of places, which were the type of place I was playing at the time, arenas? And he looked at me and he just said John, let me give you a bit of advice. Keep it small, but keep it going. Don\u2019t try to ride on the crest of something that happened 20 years ago. And that\u2019s how I\u2019ve stayed in business all these years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AP:<\/strong> So what convinced you that the time was right to go against what you\u2019ve been doing for the last 20 years?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><button class=\"button button--modal-trigger\" aria-label=\"Open the image in a modal.\" data-modal-image=\"38192514\"><br \/>\n\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"icon-plus\" fill=\"#fff\" viewbox=\"0 0 1033 1000\" width=\"1em\" height=\"1em\"><path d=\"M380 364V0h273v355h380v290H653v355H380V645H0V355h380v9z\"\/><\/svg><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.68261719;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38192514\" width=\"403\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?w=699\" alt=\"Mellencamp performing  at a farmer rally in Chillicothe, Mo. on May 7, 1986. \" class=\"wp-image-38192514\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=205,300&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 205w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=768,1125&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 768w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=699,1024&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 699w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=1049,1536&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 1049w, 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https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=231,338&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 231w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=322,472&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=300,439&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=301,441&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 301w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=41,60&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 41w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=55,80&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 55w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=1200,1758&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 1200w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=40,58&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 40w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=106,156&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 106w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=34,50&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 34w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/singer-john-cougar-mellencamp-performs-118849210.jpg?resize=150,220&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\"\/><figcaption>Mellencamp performing  at a farmer rally in Chillicothe, Mo. on May 7, 1986.  <span class=\"credit\">AP Photo\/Joe Ledford, File<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP: <\/strong>Well, I\u2019m not really going against it. I\u2019m just stepping out of line for a little bit. I\u2019ll go back to theaters as soon as this is over and start doing what I always do. When I was playing in front of the big audiences, I started feeling like a cheerleader. Let\u2019s have one more round of you name the song. I just didn\u2019t feel like it was satisfying because I\u2019m, you know, a musician. I\u2019m not a cheerleader. And when you\u2019re playing outside and stuff, you\u2019re really playing for a party.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AP:<\/strong> There was a time a snotty journalist like me would probably say that this kind of tour was just some rock star taking it to the bank. But they\u2019re your songs. You\u2019re a working musician. You have the right to do whatever you want. How have your feelings evolved about this sort of thing through the years?<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP:<\/strong> Let me tell you something. You\u2019re looking at the luckiest guy in the world \u2026 I\u2019ve never given a (expletive) about money. I always wanted to get paid, but I never did do anything for money. As the little commercial that Sean and I made together, Sean just kind of said \u2014 and that was all ad lib \u2014 there\u2019s nothing wrong with it. And I agree, there is nothing wrong with me going out and playing my hit records. It will make people happy. It will probably make me happy because I haven\u2019t done it for so long. I imagine some snarky people will say Mellencamp\u2019s just doing it for the money, but I gotta tell you, I don\u2019t give a (expletive) about money.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AP: <\/strong>You have 19 dates for this tour. What are the chances it expands or you take it overseas?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP:<\/strong> I\u2019d say slim or none. I agreed to do this and I can\u2019t imagine doing any more than that. People ask me if I like touring and I go, I like the first 20 shows. And then all of a sudden it turns into something else. It turns into a job for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AP:<\/strong> Do you find that people, as we age, are not as interested in hearing new music?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP:<\/strong> I\u2019m very aware of it. When I\u2019m playing in theaters, I\u2019ll play two or three new songs in a row and I can feel the audience kind of going, uh, uh. That\u2019s where you\u2019ve got to be smart and go, OK, now that would be a good time to have a song that they\u2019re familiar with.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AP:<\/strong> From your standpoint, with some of these old hits, what are some of the songs that you think have aged the best?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know about the hits, but some of the songs that I\u2019ve written, particularly as a young guy, I don\u2019t know where I got the idea to write them, because they have held up so good. A song like \u201cMinutes to Memories.\u201d Some of these songs have held up really surprisingly well. I quit playing \u201cJack &amp; Diane\u201d for a long time. And then, a few years ago, one of the guys in the band said, let\u2019s play it and see what happens. The place went nuts. And they sang every word, which gave me a song off. All I had to do was strum the guitar. So, I kind of enjoyed that. But this time around, we\u2019re going to play \u201cJack &amp; Diane\u201d as, I don\u2019t know what they call it, a mashup. It\u2019s a soul song now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>AP<\/strong>: Are there any songs that make you cringe or say, I want to keep that on the shelf? Any of the old hits?<\/p>\n<p><strong>MELLENCAMP:<\/strong> Not yet. That\u2019s good, I guess. But that doesn\u2019t mean, you know, after 15 shows, I\u2019m going to be going, God, I can\u2019t believe I\u2019ve got to play that song again tonight. But right now I have tried to have an open mind and open heart about it. Like Sean said, there\u2019s nothing wrong with making people happy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Not every musician has the pull to announce a concert tour with a trailer that stars Sean Penn. John Mellencamp does. The 74-year-old rocker revealed Wednesday that he\u2019ll embark on a 19-date run of US amphitheaters this summer. The theme of \u201cDancing Words Tour \u2014 The Greatest Hits\u201d is as the name suggests, Mellencamp\u2019s most [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2236347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[22749,21741,311076,21800],"class_list":["post-2236346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-concert","tag-entertainment","tag-john-mellencamp","tag-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Mellencamp-will-ROCK-in-the-USA-this-summer-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2236348,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236346\/revisions\/2236348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2236347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}