John Mellencamp is one of the more successful roots rockers from the 1970s through the '90s. His songs, such as "Pink Houses," remain must-listens and four minutes of music heaven. But in recent years, he has moved away from those tunes.
He's also been quite feisty in concert. This has happened as people have purchased tickets hoping to hear Mellencamp's best-known tunes, but he has given them newer music and something more theatrical than a straightforward concert. He also doesn't mind speaking about his left-wing political views.
This bothers some audience members, though. They instead want Mellencamp to be a monkey with a box who does nothing else but be a human jukebox. The singer has viewed things differently.
John Mellencamp will be back to doing the hits in his run of shows in 2026
But that will change, at least temporarily, in 2026. Mellencamp will play a run of summer dates beginning in mid-July and ending in mid-August. During the tour, he will play some songs he hasn't performed in years, but ones that will be very familiar to long-time fans.
Want to buy a ticket to hear him do "Hurts So Good?" You've got it. How about "Small Town?" He was seemingly doing that one as well. The assumption is that if John Mellencamp performs 20 songs during a concert, most of those will be tunes that charted at some point.
If you want to go to a show, pre-sale tickets start on Tuesday, January 20. General public tickets will be made available on Friday, January 23. One can visit his official website for more information.
2026 John Mellencamp tour dates:
- July 10—Grand Rapids, MI—Acrisure Amphitheater
- July 11—Tinley Park, IL—Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
- July 13—Kansas City, MO—Morton Amphitheater
- July 14—Shakopee, MN—Mystic Lake Amphitheater
- July 16—Clarkston, MI—Pine Knob Music Theatre
- July 18—Noblesville, IN—Ruoff Music Center
- July 19—Cincinnati, OH—Riverbend Music Center
- July 21—Cuyahoga Falls, OH—Blossom Music Center
- July 24—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center
- July 25—Holmdel, NJ—PNC Bank Arts Center
- July 26—Wantagh, NY—Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
- July 29—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live
- July 30—Charlotte, NC—Truliant Amphitheater
- August 1—Alpharetta, GA—Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
- August 3—Tampa, FL—MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
- August 6—Houston, TX—The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
- August 9—Phoenix, AZ—Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
- August 10—Hollywood, CA—Hollywood Bowl
- August 12—Mountain View, CA—Shoreline Amphitheatre