Greg Kihn, who scored hits within the Nineteen Eighties with the tunes “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Music (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” handed away Tuesday (August thirteenth) at 75 years previous after a battle with Alzheimer’s illness. His loss of life was introduced by his household.
Kihn was born in Baltimore however made his identify in music after transferring to San Francisco, the place he shaped the Greg Kihn Band. After releasing a handful of albums within the ’70s, Kihn earned his breakout hit in 1981 with “The Breakup Music (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” which rose to No. 15 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart.
A pair years later, the Greg Kihn Band launched their largest hit with “Jeopardy” from the 1983 album Kihnspiracy. The tune soared to No. 2 on the Billboard Sizzling 100, solely prevented from the highest spot by Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
“Jeopardy” was famously parodied a 12 months later by “Bizarre Al” Yankovic, who cleverly modified the refrain from “Our love’s in jeopardy” to “I misplaced on Jeopardy.”
Kihn praised Bizarre Al’s parody in a 2018 interview with Music Recall Journal, saying, “I liked his model of ‘I Misplaced on Jeopardy.’ It was a superb parody. Al is a brilliant proficient musician. He invited me to look in his video and I had a ball. God bless that man! I nonetheless get mailbox cash from Bizarre Al!”
Along with releasing many albums — together with a profitable run of pun-titled ’80s LPs (RocKihnRoll, Kihntinued, Kihnspiracy, Kihntagious, Citizen Kihn) — Kihn wrote and revealed a number of horror novels. He additionally was a DJ on the Bay Space traditional rock radio station KUFX from 1996 by way of 2012.
Our condolences exit to Greg Kihn’s household, buddies, and bandmates throughout this troublesome time. Revisit his largest hits “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Music (They Don’t Write ‘Em)” within the gamers under.