MUST-READ: Bob Seger's Greatest Hits, Ranked: 15 Tracks Proving He's Still the King of ‘Old Time Rock and Roll' John Mellencamp (1983 ... free from the Johnny Cougar name and persona he was ...

John Mellencamp's recording career began as Johnny Cougar in the mid-'70s, but it wasn't until his fifth album -- 1982's No. 1 'American Fool' -- that he became a household name (and one that ...