A rock critic and longtime friend of John Mellencamp says it’s fitting that Indiana University will unveil a statue Friday of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Seymour native.
Anthony DeCurtis said not many artists are associated with a place like Mellencamp is with Indiana.
“The first time I told him that I went to graduate school at IU, his attitude towards me completely changed,” DeCurtis said. “You know, there was a sense in which I knew something about the world that he emerged out of.”
Mellencamp has an honorary degree from IU and is a longtime benefactor of the university. He will attend the statue’s unveiling at the IU Auditorium’s North Garden.
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DeCurtis is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine. He said institutions like Indiana University carry weight, and honoring Mellencamp speaks to his contributions to music and to his home state.
“Some of these things are beginning to roll in, these kinds of honors,” DeCurtis said. “And that doesn't always happen. There are plenty of people who deserve it and don't get it, plenty of people who get it who don't deserve it. John deserves it and is getting it.”
Mellencamp started releasing music is the 1970s and is now 73.
Mellencamp will join Hoagy Carmichael, George Taliaferro, Elinor Ostrom, Ernie Pyle, Alfred Kinsey, and Herman B Wells, who are also recognized with statues at IU.
The life-sized sculpture of Mellencamp was created by IU alumnus and Bloomington native Michael McAuley.
The statue will be unveiled at IU Auditorium North Garden, 1211 E. Seventh Street at 1 p.m. Friday.
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