John Mellencamp Tells Fans to ‘Shut The F*** Up’

John Mellencamp is known as one of rock's most headstrong artists, and he proved it this week after telling the audience at a concert to “shut the f**k up."

He was playing Playhouse Square in Cleveland, Ohio as part of his latest tour, when the crowd was shocked after he threatened to cut the performance short.

Fans were allegedly warned well ahead of time about his strict behavioural expectations. There were signs around the venue lobby that read “This show respects theatre etiquette."

After a 30 minute movie montage that opened the show, he let it be known “I don’t like people screaming from the f***ing audience."

The warning however didn't stop on ticket-holder as they shouted “play the f***ing music” after John allegedly appeared to criticise the United States.

“Listen, hey, you guys, if these people don’t shut the f**k up I’m just going to leave, OK?”

“Because I’m not used to this crap. Look, guys, if I wanted to play in this type of drunken environment, I’d play outside or I’d play in an arena.”

John had issued a similar warning during a March performance in Texas, where he told the crowd before the acoustic section in the middle, “This is the quiet part, so keep your f***ing mouth shut."

A woman broke the rule and shouted his name, to which he responded “What did I just f***ing say? But thank you.”

Some fans loved the performance, while other were not too happy.

“His rudeness is legendary. The only thing that would surprise me is if he actually started a show on time.”

“It’s his show … you go to listen to the music!” another said.

“After decades of listening, we got last minute tickets to see John Mellencamp while we were in Cleveland."

“He was cocky and antagonistic as expected, but he still sounds good … He almost walked off stage the night before because someone in the crowd yelled at him while he was talking.

“He’s exactly who I thought he was, but he’s written a lot of good songs. Glad we got to see him, not sure I’d see him twice.”