Teddi Mellencamp’s strong bond with her rocker father was on full display at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum presented the iHeartRadio Music Icon Award to her father at the event in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 26. Beforehand though, she gave a touching speech crediting John Mellencamp for his support during her cancer battle.
It’s been a year since the reality TV star confirmed her stage four cancer diagnosis. The stage 2 melanoma that Teddi was battling since 2022 had metastasized to her brain and lungs. She underwent emergency brain surgery to remove the larger tumors. Her treatment plan included a course of radiation, and she continues immunotherapy.
John Mellencamp was given the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Icon Award
In her speech, Teddi recalled what it was like “growing up with a rock star for a father.”
“Tonight we celebrate the career of my dad, John Mellencamp,” the RHOBH alum addressed the audience. “But before I tell you the story of John Mellencamp, the artist, I want to tell you the story of him as a father. He’s being honored as an icon, a legend, a hitmaker, but to me he’ll always be ‘dad.'”
She continued, “In my eyes, it was no different than anybody else. He gave me advice, he’d give me groundings, he would love on me.”
Teddi became emotional at this point, so she lightened the mood by joking about John giving all the moms “chills” at her sporting events.
Like any teenager, she was “embarrassed” by her father at times. She recalled, “When you’re in an Uber and they’re blasting ‘Jack & Diane,’ when you’re at a karaoke bar and somebody’s singing ‘Hurts So Good,’ his plethora of hit songs holding a place in the hearts of millions, but for me, ‘Longest Days’ has been the song that means the most.”
Teddi continued, “In it he sings, ‘But nothing lasts forever / Your best efforts don’t always pay / Sometimes when you get sick, you don’t get better / That’s when life is short, even at its longest days.”
The lyrics became more meaningful when her “life felt short even when the days in the hospital seemed to go on forever.” Teddi then thanked her father for advocating for her and being a tremendous support.
“He stepped up, took control, fought for me, and pretty much changed my life, saved my life,” she shared. “Oh, we’re celebrating the icon, the artist, a man the whole world knows as John Mellencamp. A man I get to call dad, and my best friend.”
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TELL US – DO YOU HAVE ANY REACTION TO TEDDI’S SPEECH? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FATHER?
