On This Day, March 10, 2008: John Mellencamp is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Indiana rocker John Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in a ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.

Mellencamp was inducted by Billy Joel, who told him, “Don’t let this club membership change you, John.  We need you to be pissed off and restless because no matter what they tell us—we know this country is going to hell in a handcart.”

He added, “People need a voice like yours to echo the discontent that’s out there in the heartland … They need to know that somebody out there feels the way they do.”

Mellencamp then treated the crowd to performances of the Uh-Huh tracks “Pink Houses” and “Authority Song.”

Also inducted on that day were Madonna, Leonard Cohen, and The Ventures.

(Video includes uncensored profanity.)

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