Greg Kihn, a rock and roll musician best known for his '80s hit songs "Jeopardy" and "The Breakup Song," has died at 75. (Facebook/Greg Kihn)
- Kihn's unique songwriting style blended folk, classic rock, blues, and pop, leading to hits like "The Breakup Song" in 1981.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Jeopardy" gave the song an extended afterlife, which Kihn appreciated and participated in.
- Beyond music, Kihn had a successful career as a radio DJ and author, writing novels and short stories.
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SAN FRANCISCO โ Greg Kihn, a rock and roll musician best known for his โ80s hit songs โJeopardyโ and โThe Breakup Song,โ has died.
Kihn died of Alzheimerโs disease on Tuesday, his management team said in a statement posted to Kihnโs website. He was 75.
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From Baltimore to San Francisco: Kihnโs Musical Journey
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 โThe Breakup Song,โ released in 1981.
In 1983, the bandโs song โJeopardyโ rose to No. 2 on the Billboard HOT 100 songs chart behind Michael Jacksonโs โBeat It.โ The song was also seen and heard regularly in the early years of MTV.
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Wordplay and Tributes: Kihnโs Legacy in Music
Kihnโs albums often carried entertaining titles that played off his name โ from โRocKihnRollโ to โKihntinuedโ to โKihntagious and โCitizen Kihn.โ
Martha Quinn, an original MTV VJ, posted to that effect in her tribute Thursday on social media. โMy condolences go out to his loved ones, and thank you Greg for the Rock KIHN Roll,โ Quinn wrote.
โWeird Alโ Yankovic did a parody of the โJeopardyโ song in the โ80s called โI Lost on Jeopardy.โ Kihn said he loved it and that it gave his song more of an afterlife than it might otherwise have had, Variety reported.
โIt was a brilliant parody,โ Kihn said. โHe invited me to appear in his video, and I had a ball.โ
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Beyond Music: Kihnโs Diverse Career
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 โ addressing his fans as Kihnfolk โ thanking them for the birthday wishes and apologizing for not posting an update for nearly a year.
โAfter so many years of touring as well as doing radio shows โฆ itโs finally time I get to chill out,โ the post said. โThank you to each and every one of you for all your love and support now and over the years. Rock on!โ
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