It was 1991 and John (Cougar) Mellencamp had just released his 11th studio album, Whenever We Wanted.

John had historically not done a lot of work with/for the radio stations that played his music, but this time was different. He had a new manager who convinced him that his airplay for the lead single, "Get A Leg Up" would increase substantially if he got "close" with radio and their listeners. Thus, a 30 day "promo tour" was set up in which he would play acoustically at various places in conjunction with the many radio stations supporting his music. We had set up interesting settings such as restaurants, bars and actual radio station studios where lucky listeners were invited to meet John, get an autograph, take a picture and listen to him do a few acoustic songs.

I was the "record guy" setting all this up in Seattle, the 30th of 30 days on the road for him. It was VERY early the morning we were to do it at the studios of KXRX, one of two rock stations in town. John was tired I know, but he really didn't look good when we rode up the elevator. He reminded of the American flag. His eyes were RED, his face was pale WHITE, and you could barely still see his BLUE eyes.

Halfway through "Small Town", he stopped (on the air mind you!) in the middle and said, "I just blacked out!". He was taken to the hospital and it turns out he had had a heart attack on the air!!!
Turns out, John was just a normal guy who smoked too much, worked too hard, and stressed himself out. I'm glad to say he's still alive to talk about it!

By: Michael Idlis