John J. Mellencamp[1] (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008,[2] followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.[3]
Mellencamp rose to fame in the 1980s while “honing an almost startlingly plainspoken writing style” [4] that, starting in 1982, yielded a string of Top 10 singles, including “Hurts So Good“, “Jack & Diane“, “Crumblin’ Down“, “Pink Houses“, “Lonely Ol’ Night“, “Small Town“, “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.“, “Paper in Fire“, and “Cherry Bomb“. He has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. Mellencamp has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. He has sold over 30 million albums in the US and over 60 million worldwide. His latest album of original songs, Orpheus Descending, was released in June 2023.
Mellencamp is also one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois, to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Farm Aid concerts have remained an annual event over the past 37 years, and as of 2023 the organization has raised over $60 million
Work on a follow-up album stalled due to creative differences between band members; by 1998 only Rose and Reed remained from the Illusion-era lineup. Rose, wanting to expand the band’s sound with industrial and electronic elements, enrolled an eclectic lineup of musicians, including punk bassist Tommy Stinson, virtuoso guitarist Buckethead, synth player Chris Pitman and several touring members of Nine Inch Nails, among others. After a decade of work, Guns N’ Roses’s long-awaited sixth studio album, Chinese Democracy (2008), was released, featuring the title track as lead single. At an estimated $14 million in production costs, it is the most expensive rock album in history. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, but undersold industry expectations despite a mostly positive critical reception. Following the expansive Chinese Democracy Tour, Slash and McKagan rejoined the band in 2016 for the Not in This Lifetime… Tour, which became the third-highest-grossing concert tour on record, grossing over $584 million by its conclusion in 2019.
In their early years, the band’s hedonism and rebelliousness drew comparisons to the early Rolling Stones and earned them the nickname “the most dangerous band in the world”. The band’s classic lineup, along with later members Reed and drummer Matt Sorum, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, its first year of eligibility. Guns N’ Roses have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them one of the best-selling acts in history.
Styx (/stɪks/) is an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1972 and is known for incorporating hard rock guitar balanced with acoustic guitar, synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano, upbeat tracks with power ballads, and incorporating elements of international musical theatre.[6] The band established itself with a progressive rock sound in the 1970s, and began to incorporate pop and soft rock elements in the 1980s.
Debuting with Styx in 1972, the band usually released an album every year throughout the 1970s. Styx II (1973) had the sleeper hit “Lady“, a power ballad, which reached No. 6 in the US, helping the album make the top 20. “Lady” was also a top 20 hit in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Equinox (1975) and Crystal Ball (1976) reached the US top 70 with the first featuring “Lorelei“, a No. 6 hit in Canada, while the latter marked the addition of Tommy Shaw to the band.
Styx’s commercial breakthrough in North America came with The Grand Illusion (1977), which peaked at No. 6 in both the US and Canada, and became the first of four straight multi-platinum albums in the US for Styx. It featured the single “Come Sail Away“, a top 10 hit in both countries. The band’s follow-up, Pieces of Eight (1978), was another No. 6 hit in the US, but peaked higher in Canada due to the top 10 hits “Renegade” and “Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)“. In 1979, Styx’s Cornerstone went to No. 2 in both countries on the strength of the cross-border No. 1 hit ballad “Babe“. The album became their breakthrough album in Australia and New Zealand, reaching the top 20, with “Babe” peaking at No. 3. “Babe” was a No. 6 hit in the UK, their first and only top 40 hit there, leading Cornerstone to be their first album to chart there (at No. 36).[citation needed]
In 1981, Styx’s Paradise Theatre was a No. 1 album in the US and Canada, while also reaching the top 10 in Scandinavia and the UK (their biggest album there) and the top 30 in Australia and New Zealand. “The Best of Times” from the album reached No. 1 in Canada, No. 3 in the US, and the top 30 in several other countries, while “Too Much Time on My Hands” was also a top 10 hit in North America. Kilroy Was Here (1983) was Styx’s last major hit album, reaching the top 3 in North America and the top 10 in Scandinavia, although it was less successful elsewhere. Its lead single, “Mr. Roboto“, became Styx’s third chart-topper in Canada, was a No. 3 hit in the US, and was their biggest hit in Germany (No. 8). After a seven-year break, Styx returned with Edge of the Century (1990), which reached No. 63 in the US with its single, “Show Me the Way“, becoming a top 3 hit in North America in early 1991.[citation needed]
Overall, Styx had eight songs that hit the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as 16 top 40 singles. Seven of their eight top 10 singles were written and sung by founding member and lead singer Dennis DeYoung, who has not been part of the band since 1999. Styx sold over 20 million records for A&M between their signing in 1976 and 1984.[7]
Robert Clark Seger (/ˈsiːɡər/SEE-gər; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, breaking through with his first album, Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (which contained his first national hit of the same name) in 1968. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the ‘System’ from his recordings and continued to strive for broader success with various other bands. In 1973, he put together the Silver Bullet Band, with a group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful on the national level with the album Live Bullet (1976), recorded live with the Silver Bullet Band in 1975 at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the studio album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, which appeared on several of Seger’s best-selling singles and albums.
Foreigner is an American rock band, originally formed in New York City in 1976 by guitarist Mick Jones and multi-instrumentalist, and original King Crimson member, Ian McDonald, along with vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones came up with the band’s name as he, McDonald and drummer Dennis Elliott were British, while Gramm, keyboardist Al Greenwood and bassist Ed Gagliardi were American, meaning at least half of the band would be foreigners no matter what country they were in.[3][4]
In 1977, Foreigner released its self-titled debut album, the first of four straight albums to be certified at least 5× platinum in the US. Foreigner peaked at No. 4 on the US album chart and in the top 10 in Canada and Australia, while yielding two top 10 hits in North America, “Feels Like the First Time” and “Cold as Ice“. Their 1978 follow-up, Double Vision, was even more successful peaking at No. 3 in North America with two hit singles, “Hot Blooded” a No. 3 hit in both countries, and the title track, a US No. 2 and a Canadian No. 7. Foreigner’s third album, Head Games (1979), went to No. 5 in North America producing two top 20 singles, including its title track. The album saw Rick Wills replace Gagliardi on bass.
Reduced to a quartet after the departures of McDonald and Greenwood, their album 4 (1981) hit No. 1 (for 10 weeks) in the US and No. 2 in Canada, while becoming Foreigner’s break-through album outside of North America, going top 5 in the UK, Germany and Australia. Three of 4’s singles were hits: “Urgent” reached No. 1 in Canada and on the new US Rock Tracks chart, rose to No. 4 on the US Hot 100 and became their first top 15 hit in Germany; the ballad “Waiting for a Girl Like You” peaked at No. 2 in both the US (for a record 10 weeks) and Canada, topped the US Rock Tracks chart and became their first top 10 hit in the UK and Australia; and “Juke Box Hero” reached No. 3 on the Rock Tracks chart and the top 30 on the Hot 100. In 1982, Foreigner released its first greatest hits album, Records, which has gone on to sell 7 million copies in the US. In 1984, Foreigner had its biggest hit single, the anthemic ballad “I Want to Know What Love Is“, which topped the US, UK, Canadian and Australian charts, while hitting No. 3 in Germany and the top 10 in numerous other countries. Its source album, Agent Provocateur, was the band’s most successful in the UK, Germany and some other countries in Europe, where it peaked at No. 1, and in Australia where it peaked at No. 3, while making the top 5 in the US and Canada.
After a break, Foreigner released Inside Information (1987), which despite the No. 6 US and Australian hit, “Say You Will” (which also rose to No. 1 on the US Rock Tracks chart) and the No. 5 US hit, “I Don’t Want to Live Without You” (which also reached No. 1 on the US Adult Contemporary chart), had a large sales drop-off, only hitting the top 10 in a few European countries with a No. 15 peak in the US. The band’s most recent albums, Unusual Heat (1991), without Gramm, Mr. Moonlight (1994), with Gramm returning, and Can’t Slow Down (2009), once again without Gramm, were not major sellers; the highest chart positions were obtained in Germany, where the last album peaked at No. 16.
Foreigner is one of the world’s bestselling bands of all time with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records,[5] including 37.5 million in the US.[6] Dennis Elliot and Rick Wills both left the band in 1991, with Lou Gramm’s second departure in 2003 leaving Mick Jones as the only founding member still involved.
