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SAN FRANCISCO — Greg Kihn, a rock 'n' roll musician best known for his '80s hits “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song,” has died.
Kihn died of Alzheimer's disease on Tuesday, his management team said in an announcement on Kihn's website. He was 75 years old.
Born in Baltimore on July 10, 1949, he moved to the San Francisco area within the Nineteen Seventies. He was signed to Beserkley Records. With a songwriting style that blended folk, classic rock, blues and pop, his Greg Kihn Band had its first hit with “The Breakup Song,” released in 1981.
In 1983, the band's song “Jeopardy” peaked at number two on the Billboard HOT 100 songs chart behind Michael Jackson's “Beat It.” The song was also featured frequently within the early years of MTV.
Kihn's albums often had entertaining titles that played on his name – from “RocKihnRoll” to “Kihntinued” to “Kihntagious” and “Citizen Kihn”.
Martha Quinn, an original MTV VJ, posted a tribute to her on social media on Thursday. “My condolences to his family and thank you Greg for rocking KIHN Roll,” Quinn wrote.
“Weird Al” Yankovic made a parody of the “Jeopardy” song within the '80s called “I Lost on Jeopardy.” Kihn said he loved the parody and it gave his song more afterlife than it otherwise would have had, Variety reported.
“It was a brilliant parody,” Kihn said. “He invited me to be in his video and I had a blast.”
Kihn also wrote novels and short stories.
On his birthday in July, Kihn posted a post on his Facebook page—addressing his fans as Kihnfolk—thanking them for his or her birthday wishes and apologizing for not posting an update in nearly a 12 months.
“After so many years of touring and being on the radio… it's finally time for me to relax,” the post read. “Thank you to each and every one of you for all your love and support now and throughout the years. Keep rocking!”
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