All 29 of John Mellencamp's Hot 100 hits, ranked from worst to best

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Set us as preferred Not that long ago, John Mellencamp was sure he knew what kind of tour was right for him.“I could do a whole show of hits if I wanted to, but I don’t,” he told the New York Times in 2023.“That’s one reason I quit playing arenas and playing outdoors.

It wasn’t about music — it was about being a human jukebox.”Yet as this singer, songwriter and lifelong cigarette connoisseur said as he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2008: “I’ve been a total walking contradiction my entire career, and I intend to stay that way.”So here he comes Monday night to the Hollywood Bowl, where the 74-year-old will bring his Dancing Words tour for an evening outdoors that he promises will feature his “most beloved songs,” including hits he hasn’t performed live for ages.You can think of the road show as Mellencamp’s response to the success of Madonna’s recent Celebration tour, which offered a similar look back by a pop icon long averse to nostalgia.Or perhaps he’s aware that the heartland rock style he helped pioneer is back in vogue thanks to acts like Sam Fender and the War on Drugs.

(Times contributor Erin Osmon just published an astute new book, “Won’t Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America,” that examines the style’s history and politics.)Whatever the case, the occasion seemed a good moment to rank all 29 of Mellencamp’s singles that have charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 — starting with the worst and ending with the best.The singer wants to be Bruce Springsteen; the band wants to be … ABBA?Mellencamp once derided his albums from the ’90s as “paint-by-numbers” affairs that he only made because he couldn’t get out of his record deal.I can see it.Then again, bored rich guys can get frisky too.Working in the studio with Stax Records’ Steve C...