{"id":432706,"date":"2026-08-14T10:58:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432706\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:58:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:58:36","slug":"two-years-ago-today-we-said-goodbye-to-the-1980s-san-francisco-power-pop-hero-who-doubled-as-a-horror-novelist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/432706\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Years Ago Today, We Said Goodbye to the 1980s San Francisco Power Pop Hero Who Doubled as a Horror Novelist"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this day (August 13) in 2024, Greg Kihn\u2014best known for hit songs \u201cJeopardy\u201d and \u201cThe Break Up Song\u201d\u2014died at age 75<\/a> from complications of Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

In addition to founding and leading the Greg Kihn Band in 1976, the power-pop icon also penned several popular horror novels.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

His debut, 1996\u2019s Horror Show, earned a nomination for the renowned Bram Stoker Award\u00a0for Best First Novel.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Greg Kihn was]\u00a0known for his magnetic stage presence and unique storytelling that captivated audiences around the globe,\u201d Kihn\u2019s friend, Skylar Turtle, wrote in a eulogy<\/a> posted to the singer\u2019s official website. \u201cHe was not merely a musician but a cultural phenomenon whose influence will resonate for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019re exploring the life and legacy of Greg Kihn on the second anniversary of his passing.<\/p>\n

About Greg Kihn<\/p>\n

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 10, 1949, Greg Kihn became inspired<\/a> to take up music after seeing the Beatles\u2019 February 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIf you were a shy 14-year-old kid who already had a guitar, it was a life-altering event. \u2026 In a single weekend everything had changed,\u201d he recalled to CBS News in 2014. \u201cI\u2019d come home from school the previous\u00a0Friday\u00a0looking like Dion [DiMucci]. I went back to class\u00a0on Monday\u00a0morning with my hair dry\u00a0and\u00a0brushed forward. That\u2019s how quickly it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

After winning a talent search competition sponsored by a local radio station in high school, Kihn cut his teeth on the Baltimore club circuit until he headed to San Francisco in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n

The Shift to Rock and Roll<\/p>\n

Supporting himself by painting houses and singing in the streets, Greg Kihn eventually settled in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

There, he was among the first artists signed to Beserkley Records, whose roster included\u00a0proto-punk icon Jonathan Richman of the Modern Lovers.<\/p>\n

After his solo debut on the compilation album\u00a0Beserkley Chartbusters, he formed The Greg Kihn Band. They arrived on scene with the 1976 album Greg Kihn.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 1970s, Kihn released an album each year and toured constantly, building a dedicated cult following. His album titles often riffed on his own last name, with examples including Next of Kihn (1978), and RocKihnRoll (1981).<\/p>\n

Commercial Success at Last<\/p>\n

While beloved in the Bay Area, Kihn and his band couldn\u2019t quite seem<\/a> to crack the national scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rap is, why hasn\u2019t Greg Kihn made it yet,\u201d he told Rolling Stone<\/a> in 1980. \u201cI don\u2019t know and I don\u2019t care. \u2026 I\u2019ve given up worrying about ascending to the throne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their breakthrough finally arrived the following year when \u201cThe Breakup Song\u201d reached number 15 on the U.S. pop chart.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: How a Restaurant Patron Inspired The Greg Kihn Band\u2019s Breakthrough Hit]<\/a><\/p>\n

Two years later, Kihn scored a career highlight with \u201cJeopardy\u201d, which reached number two on the pop chart. It also inspired the Weird Al parody \u201cI Lost on Jeopardy\u201d\u2014which Kihn considered an honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a brilliant parody\u2026 God bless that man!\u201d he said. \u201cI still get mailbox money from Weird Al!\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 1980s, Kihn had the honor of opening arena-sized shows for the likes of Journey, the Grateful Dead, and the Rolling Stones.<\/p>\n

Outside of music, he also spent 18 years as a morning radio host for the Bay Area classic rock station KFOX. Kihn was a member of the\u00a0Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Featured image by Paul Natkin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On this day (August 13) in 2024, Greg Kihn\u2014best known for hit songs \u201cJeopardy\u201d and \u201cThe Break Up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[171869,8258,101,103,102,104,106,105,171870],"class_list":["post-432706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-2020s","tag-rock-music","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-the-greg-kihn-band"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}