Greg Kihn, 75, passes away. He had hits with “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song.”
Later on, Greg Kihn rose to fame in the San Francisco Bay Area as a morning disc jockey.
Greg Kihn, a well-known radio disc jockey and singer-songwriter whose band achieved success in the 1980s with songs like “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” passed away on Tuesday at a San Francisco Bay Area hospital. His age was 75.
The cause, as stated in a statement on his website on Thursday, was complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
As the frontman of the California pop ensemble Greg Kihn Band, Mr. Kihn became well-known in the early 1980s. Songs written by Mr. Kihn combined pop, blues, folk, and classic rock. Before his first big hit, “The Breakup Song,” co-written with the band’s bassist Steve Wright, peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1981, he had moderate success with a number of other songs.
He co-wrote “Jeopardy,” the band’s biggest song, with Mr. Wright. It peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 chart in 1983.
On MTV that year, the music video for “Jeopardy” was essentially played nonstop. “I Lost on Jeopardy,” a parody of the song by Weird Al Yankovic, featured Don Pardo, a longtime host of the game show “Jeopardy” on television. Weird Al’s music video for the song had a cameo by Mr. Kihn, who expressed in interviews that he was flattered to be made fun of. Kihn drove a convertible with the license plate “LOSER.”
Mr. Kihn started working as a morning radio disc jockey for the San Francisco Bay area’s classic rock radio station KFOX in the mid-1990s, a position he kept until 2012.
He also authored six novels, two of which had a musical theme: “Rubber Soul,” a fictitious thriller about the Beatles, and “Painted Black,” a fictional thriller about the death of Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones. In addition, he edited and contributed to “Carved In Rock,” a collection of short stories written by rock stars like Joan Jett, Ray Davies of The Kinks, and Pete Townshend of The Who.
On July 10, 1949, Gregory Stanley Kihn was born in Baltimore. According to The San Francisco Examiner, he relocated to the San Francisco Bay area in the early 1970s.
In a 2011 interview, Mr. Kihn stated, “I can tell you, life with a hit record is much better than life without a hit record,” on the LikeTotally80s website.
Jay Arafiles-Kihn, his wife; Ryan Kihn, son; Alexis Harrington-Kihn, daughter; Laura Otremba, sister; and two grandkids survive Mr. Kihn.
During an August 2018 interview, Mr. Kihn stated that he has been fortunate to have wonderful opportunities in his work at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“My career has been a tremendous success when I look back on it, and I love that it was varied,” Mr. Kihn remarked. “I have much blessings,”
Greg Kihn, the star of “Jeopardy,” passed away at age 75 after battling Alzheimer’s
The music industry is grieving for one of its own.
The musical sensation Greg Kihn, best known for his memorable single “Jeopardy,” has away. His age was 75.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the artist’s publicist, Michael Brandvold, broke the tragic news that the singer had died on Tuesday, following a fight with Alzheimer’s.
His family did not want the place of his passing to be made public.
In 1981, the singer’s debut single, “The Breakup Song,” peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1983, Kihn achieved unprecedented success as “Jeopardy” quickly became a classic.
The parody of the song, titled “I Lost on Jeopardy,” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Kihn expressed his gratitude to Yankovic for giving his music even more longevity across time.
In a 2018 interview with Music Recall Magazine, he declared, “I loved his version of ‘I Lost on Jeopardy.'” It was a very clever parody. Al is a really gifted musician. I was thrilled when he asked me to be in his video. May God reward the man! Weird Al still sends me mailbox money!
During the mid-1970s, Kihn was among numerous artists who emerged from the Bay Area label Beserkley Records.
In 1976, the songwriter’s debut single was included on the well-known compilation “Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. 1.”
Alongside other Beserkley acts like Jonathan Richman, the Rubinoos, and Earth Quake, Kihn gained prominence.
Kihn told the site, “We weren’t like the other SF bands.” “British bands like The Who and the Faces influenced our music.” The fans would return week after week to hear the new tunes we were always writing. The songs were the main focus, not the jamming.
Growing up in Baltimore, Kihn won a talent competition held by a local radio station when he was a high school student.
