John Mellencamp, also known as John Cougar and John Cougar Mellencamp, (born October 7, 1951) is best known for being an American rock singer-songwriter. On March 10, 2008, John Mellencamp will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Madonna, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures, and The Dave Clark Five.[LINK: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/13/rockhall.inductees.ap/index.html] [1] Early life Mellencamp eloped with his pregnant girlfriend at the age of 17 and had his first child (Michelle) just six months after graduating high school in 1970. In 1974 he graduated from Vincennes University, a two-year college in Vincennes, Indiana, and took a job at a phone company in his hometown of Seymour, Indiana before deciding to go to New York in an attempt to land a record deal, which he finally managed to do in late 1975. The John Cougar years Aft