John Mellencamp Recounts Awkward Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Performance With Johnny Cash: “As Soon as the Song Was Over, I Ran off Stage”

When asked to perform during the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, John Mellencamp considered it a dream come true. Although loving what the Rock Hall represented, Mellencamp received the chance to perform with country music icon Johnny Cash. Standing beside the man in black, Mellencamp soaked in the atmosphere as the two stepped on stage. But the special night quickly turned sour as a simple key change caused Mellencamp to completely fumble the performance. 

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Most people can recount a time when they completely crippled a performance or presentation. Although the memory might be haunting, nothing compares to stumbling through a performance at the Rock Hall. And to make it even worse, musical legends like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, and more were in attendance. 

Recalling the painful 1995 memory on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Mellencamp explained how he waited to do soundchecks with Cash. But with the Eagles going before them, Cash quickly grew impatient. Already knowing they would be singing “Ring of Fire”, Mellencamp decided to save some time, telling the country star he didn’t need a soundcheck. 

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John Mellencamp Never Forgot Chuck Berry & Bruce Springsteen Watching Him

The time eventually came, and well, in Mellencamp’s own words, “He started the song. ‘I fell into…’ I didn’t realize that he had changed the f**king key from him smoking to a lower key. So I couldn’t hit the note,” Mellencamp explained. “I couldn’t find a f**king note because it was not the note the song was written in.”   

With nowhere to run or hide, Mellencamp watched in horror as he fought through the song. And to make it worse, he remembered Springsteen and Chuck Berry looking at him. “All these people on the side of the stage, right? And they’re all giving me a look like, ‘You’re f**king up, man.’As soon as the song was over, I ran off stage. I was totally humiliated. So, I ran off stage and got to my trailer.”

Although every singer has at least one story of a horrible performance, Mellencamp’s mishap happened in front of not just Cash but his wife, June Carter Cash. A member of the famed Carter Family, she wrote “Ring of Fire” with Merle Kilgore in the 1960s. 

While Mellencamp wanted to forget the moment, a knock on his trailer startled him. “I just get back there and all of a sudden, knock on the door and I answer and it’s John. He said, ‘Can I come in?’ And I go, ‘I don’t know why you’d want to, but yeah, come on in.’”

Sitting with him, Cash didn’t offer Mellencamp any sympathy. In true Cash fashion, he only stated, “I told you we should have soundchecked.”

(Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)