Teddi Mellencamp got emotional as she honored her father John Mellencamp with the Icon Award at the #iHeartAwards 2026. Teddi, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last year, shared that her favorite song of her dad's is "Longest Days." She said, "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." Teddi recalled that when she was diagnosed her "life felt short even as the days in the hospital seemed to go on forever." She said John wasn't going to let the lyric, "Sometimes you get sick and you don't get better" define her life. "He stepped up, took control, fought for me, and pretty much changed my life, saved my life," she said. "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."