Current:Home > MyKihn of rock and roll: Greg Kihn of ‘80s ‘Jeopardy’ song fame dies at 75 -ProfitEdge
Kihn of rock and roll: Greg Kihn of ‘80s ‘Jeopardy’ song fame dies at 75
View
Date:2025-04-14 20:15:14
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Greg Kihn, a rock and roll musician best known for his ‘80s hit songs “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song,” has died.
Kihn died of Alzheimer’s disease on Tuesday, his management team said in a statement posted to Kihn’s website. He was 75.
He was born on July 10, 1949, in Baltimore and moved to the San Francisco area in the 1970s. He was signed to Beserkley Records. With a songwriting style that blended folk, classic rock, blues and pop, his Greg Kihn Band had their first hit with “The Breakup Song,” released in 1981.
In 1983, the band’s song “Jeopardy” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard HOT 100 songs chart behind Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.” The song was also seen and heard regularly in the early years of MTV.
Kihn’s albums often carried entertaining titles that played off his name — from “RocKihnRoll” to “Kihntinued” to “Kihntagious and “Citizen Kihn.”
Martha Quinn, an original MTV VJ, posted to that effect in her tribute Thursday on social media. “My condolences go out to his loved ones, and thank you Greg for the Rock KIHN Roll,” Quinn wrote.
“Weird Al” Yankovic did a parody of the “Jeopardy” song in the ‘80s called “I Lost on Jeopardy.” Kihn said he loved it and that it gave his song more of an afterlife than it might otherwise have had, Variety reported.
“It was a brilliant parody,” Kihn said. “He invited me to appear in his video, and I had a ball.”
Kihn was also a longtime DJ starting in the mid-1990s for KUFX radio in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a nationally syndicated nighttime radio host.
Kihn also wrote novels and short stories.
On his birthday in July, Kihn posted on his Facebook page — addressing his fans as Kihnfolk — thanking them for the birthday wishes and apologizing for not posting an update for nearly a year.
“After so many years of touring as well as doing radio shows ... it’s finally time I get to chill out,” the post said. “Thank you to each and every one of you for all your love and support now and over the years. Rock on!”
veryGood! (89489)
Related
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Jobs report is likely to show another month of modest but steady hiring gains
- 6 migrants from Egypt, Peru and Honduras die near Guatemalan border after Mexican soldiers open fire
- A Michigan man is charged with killing and dismembering a janitor he met on the Grindr dating app
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Aerial footage shows Asheville, North Carolina before and after Helene's devastation
- Two California dairy workers were infected with bird flu, latest human cases in US
- The Daily Money: Is it time to refinance?
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- 'The coroner had to pull them apart': Grandparents killed in Hurricane Helene found hugging in bed
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- For migrant women who land in Colorado looking for jobs, a common answer emerges: No
- Marshawn Lynch is 'College GameDay' guest picker for Cal-Miami: Social media reacts
- International fiesta fills New Mexico’s sky with colorful hot air balloons
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- South Carolina sets Nov. 1 execution as state ramps up use of death chamber
- Ex-Memphis officers found guilty of witness tampering in Tyre Nichols' fatal beating
- Soul-searching and regret over unheeded warnings follow Helene’s destruction
Recommendation
Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark a near-unanimous choice as WNBA’s Rookie of the Year
Garth Brooks Returns to Las Vegas Stage Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
Naomi Watts joined at New York Film Festival by her 'gigantic' dog co-star
Intellectuals vs. The Internet
Taylor Swift-themed guitar smashed by a Texas man is up for sale... again
Olympian Suni Lee Calls Out MyKayla Skinner's Put Down to Gymnastics Team
Garth Brooks Speaks Out on Rape Allegation From His and Trisha Yearwood's Makeup Artist