Who Was John Mellencamp's First Wife, Priscilla Esterline?

John Mellencamp's more recent ex-wives, Victoria Granucci and Elaine Irwin, might not be public figures in quite the same way as the singer, but they were certainly more public than his first wife, Priscilla Esterline. In fact, when it comes to Esterline, very little has been made public — despite the former couple having been married for a decade. 

One thing we do know about Esterline and John's relationship is that they were high school sweethearts. However, that wasn't all. According to Parade, John was actually still in high school at the time of their nuptials, with the young lovers eloping in 1970. Why the rush? In a 1994 interview with Entertainment Weekly, John shared that Esterline had been pregnant with their first child, daughter Michelle Mellencamp. The couple didn't have any more children together. 

As for what prompted their split, John himself has copped to cheating. In fact, he even hinted at having done so a number of times. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, he said, "How many guys you know in rock bands that have been divorced? There's a reason for that. I don't care who you are or who you think you are, you're gonna fall into the pitfalls of that sooner or later ... I mean, what other reason would a guy ever pick up a guitar as a teenager?" Yikes-worthy as the sentiment may be, it's possible Esterline was on the same page, at least to some extent. After all, as we said, they remained together for 10 years. Moreover, the outlet also made mention of the fact that John and Esterline's divorce had been an amicable one, even with Granucci already in the picture. 

Despite being together for such a long time, it does bear mentioning that John Mellencamp first became a big name in the late '70s and early '80s — aka, toward the end of his marriage to Priscilla Esterline. In other words, if the unfaithful rock star trope wasn't a cliche enough, John became one of the many stars who broke up with their partner after making it big. 

In fairness, it does seem as though bowing out as her husband got his big break actually worked in Esterline's favor. After all, she certainly remained low-key after their split. In fact, there are very few pictures of her online, and it didn't seem as though she had much of a social media presence prior to her passing in 2012. 

Heartbreakingly, Esterline died aged just 57. As noted in her obituary, she went on to have another child, a son named Adam Esterline. However, like his mom (and even his older half-sister Michelle Mellencamp), he seems to prefer keeping a low profile as well. Even so, we're wishing Adam, Michelle, and the children between them nothing but the best.