Bay Area rocker Greg Kihn dies at 75
Photo by Liz Hafalia (San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images)

Bay Area rocker Greg Kihn dies at 75

Greg Kihn, the power-pop singer-songwriter best-known for leading the Greg Kihn Band and scoring a No. 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983 with “Jeopardy”, passed away on August 13 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 75.

Born in Baltimore, Kihn moved to San Francisco in 1974 and released his self-titled debut in 1976 on legendary power-pop label Beserkley Records. He quickly became the biggest-selling artist on the label, which also included Jonathan Richman and the Rubinoos on its roster.

His albums, whose titles often punned on his own name (Kihnspiracy, Kihntinued), sold so well that he eventually became Beserkley’s only artist. His other well-known songs from the early 1980s include “Breakup Song,” “Happy Man,” “Every Love Song,” and “Love Never Fails.”

Kihn benefited from constant touring, opening big shows for acts like Journey, the Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead, even receiving the honor of a “Weird Al" Yankovic parody (1984’s “I Lost on Jeopardy.”)

Though his chart success only lasted for the first half of the 1980s, Kihn enjoyed an eclectic career that included DJing at Bay Area station KUFX and scoring a prestigious Bram Stoker Award nomination in 1996 for his novel “Horror Show.”

Kihn was contributing editor to Carved in Rock, a magazine highlighting short fiction by other prominent musicians. In 2013, he released "Rubber Soul", a murder mystery novel starring the Beatles.

Kihn's survivors include his wife Jay Arafiles-Kihn, son Ryan Kihn, and daughter Alex Harrington-Kihn.

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