John Mellencamp has hit back after a viral video showed him storming off stage after he was heckled by fans mid-performance.

The singer, 72, launched an expletive-laden tirade after a concert goer in Toledo, Ohio shouted ‘play some music’ as Mellencamp attempted to tell a story during a  concert last month.

Mellencamp responded: ‘What do you think I’ve been doing you c********r?’ as fans booed the heckler.  

‘Here’s the thing, man. You don’t know me. You don’t f*****g know me. Hey Joe, find this guy and let me see him after the show.’

Another fan shouted a request for Mellencamp to play ‘Authority Song’ with Mellencamp retorting: Guys, I can stop this show right now and just go home.

John Mellencamp has hit back after a viral video showed him storming off stage after he was heckled by fans mid-performance (pictured 2023)

‘Tell you what I’m going to do. Since you’ve been so wonderful, I’m going to cut about ten songs out of the show. Here we go.’

The star then began his next song Jack & Diane before abruptly saying ‘You know what? Show’s over’ and storming off stage.

He would later return and finish the show. 

Mellencamp broke his silence on the uproar and said he expected audience members to have ‘etiquette’ during his show.

He told The Washington Post: ‘I do expect etiquette inside of the theater, the same way you would at a Broadway show.

‘My shows are not really concerts anymore. They’re performances, and there’s a difference between a performance and a concert. 

‘Look, I’m not for everyone anymore. I’m just not. And if you want to come and scream and yell and get drunk, don’t come to my show.’

The singer-songwriter began his illustrious career in music back in the early 1970s playing under the stage name Johnny Cougar.

The singer, 72, launched an expletive-laden tirade after a fan in Toledo, Ohio shouted ‘play some music’ as Mellencamp attempted to tell a story during a concert last month. Mellencamp responded: ‘What do you think I’ve been doing you c********r?’ (pictured 2023)

He told The Washington Post : ‘I do expect etiquette inside of the theater, the same way you would at a Broadway show’

He would play the name game and go by John Cougar by his self-titled third album.

His big breakthrough came with the release of his fifth studio album, American Fool (1982), which contained the three hit singles Hurts So Good, Jack & Dianne and Hand to Hold On To.

His seventh record, Uh-Huh (1983) would become an even bigger hit with the support of such singles as Pink Houses, Authority Song and Crumblin’ Down.

In all, Mellencamp has released 25 albums over his career and amassed 22 hit songs in the U.S. that includes Lonely Ol’ Night, I Need A Lover, Small Town, Rain On The Scarecrow, R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Human Wheels, Paper In Fire, Cherry Bomb, Jackei Brown and Love And Happiness, among others.

Ultimately he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.