How 'heartland rock' became one of America's most misunderstood genres

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published July 2, 2026 at 9:53 AM MDT

Singer John Cougar Mellencamp waves to the crowd in Chillicothe, Mo., as he arrives on stage to perform at the farmer's rally, May 7, 1986. (AP Photo)

In the 1980s, a brand of “heartland rock” by artists like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and John Mellencamp took over American pop culture.

But as music journalist Erin Osmon explains to Here & Now‘s Indira Lakshmanan, many of their most famous songs, from “Born in the U.S.A” to “Pink Houses,” became commercialized and misunderstood. It’s the subject of Osmon’s new book, “Won’t Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America.”