John Mellencamp exhibit opens at Rock Hall of Fame

Original paintings, handwritten lyrics and a motorcycle are part of a John Mellencamp exhibit that opened Thursday at Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Mellencamp, a 2008 inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, became a fixture of MTV programming during the 1980s. Videos for "Hurts So Good," "Jack & Diane," "Crumblin' Down," "Pink Houses," "Authority Song," "Lonely Ol' Night," "Small Town," "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.," "Rain on the Scarecrow," "Cherry Bomb," "Paper in Fire" and "Check It Out" aired in heavy rotation.

The Hall of Fame exhibit, titled “Mellencamp,” will be on display through Sept. 4 in the Ahmet Ertegun Main Exhibition Hall.

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Among the more than 100 items on display:

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>> Mellencamp’s 1966 Silver Honda Scrambler 305 motorcycle.

>> Mellencamp’s Gibson Dove acoustic guitar used throughout his career.

>> Six paintings by Mellencamp, including “The Stardust Sisters,” which depicts actresses Meg Ryan and Laura Dern.

>>  Original handwritten lyrics to the songs “Small Town,” “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” “Cherry Bomb,” “Pop Singer,” and “"Longest Days" ("Life Is Short").”

>> A 12-string Harptone acoustic guitar played by David Bowie on the “Ziggy Stardust” tour. Mellencamp received the guitar from then-manager Tony DeFries, who previously served as Bowie’s manager.

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“I would like this exhibit to let people know, or discover, that I really have spent my entire life living the way that I want to live, and doing what I want to do,” Mellencamp said in a statement. “And, that I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world for being able to do that.”

Seymour, Ind., native Mellencamp co-founded Farm Aid with Willie Nelson and Neil Young in 1985. Mellencamp is a Grammy Award winner (1983 for "Hurts So Good") and the recipient of the Billboard Century Award (2001), Huntington's Disease Society of America's Woody Guthrie Award (2003), Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement for Songwriting (2010) and John Steinbeck Award (2012).

The album "American Fool" (1982) sold 5 million copies. "Uh-Huh" (1983) followed with 3 million. "Scarecrow" (1985) hit 5 million, and "The Lonesome Jubilee" (1987) reached 3 million.

Mellencamp wrapped the autumn leg of his “Plain Spoken” tour Nov. 4 in Grand Forks, N.D.

For more information, visit RockHall.org.

Call IndyStar reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.