Greg Kihn, the beloved pop and rock musician known for his hit “Jeopardy,” died Tuesday (August 13) after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 75 years old.
The star, born July 10, 1949, in Baltimore, moved to San Francisco in the mid-1970s, where he became one of the first artists signed to Matthew King Kaufman's Beserkley Records. He formed the Greg Kihn Band, with guitarist Robbie Dunbar, bassist Steve Wright, and drummer Larry Lynch, and the band released a self-titled album in 1976. During the 1970s, Kihn released an album each year.
However, it wasn't until 1981 that Kihn scored his first major Billboard hit with “The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em),” from Rockihnroll album. The track peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Just two years later, he released the dance hit, “Jeopardy,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. In 1984, Kihn gave “Weird Al” Yankovic permission to parody his song on “I Lost on Jeopardy ,” and even made a cameo at the end of the music video as the driver of a convertible. In 1985, Kihn signed with EMI.
In addition to his success as a musician, Kihn was also an accomplished author. He wrote four horror fiction novels, including 1996 Horror show and of 1998 Shade of Pale. of 1998 Big Rock Beat and of 1999 Mojo Hand were written as sequels to it Horror show. He also wrote Carved in Rock: Short stories from musicianswhich collected stories from him and other rock musicians, including Pete Townshend, Joan Jett and others. His 2013 novel, Rubber Soulwas a Beatles-themed murder mystery story.
Kihn is survived by Jay Arafiles-Kihn, his wife; his son, Ryan Kihn, and daughter, Alexis Harrington-Kihn; as well as his grandchildren.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/greg-kihn-jeopardy-singer-dead-obituary-1235753985/
