Greg Kihn, “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song” Hitmaker, Dies

Greg Kihn, who scored hits in the 1980s with the tunes “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” passed away Tuesday (August 13th) at 75 years old after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. His death was announced by his family.

Kihn was born in Baltimore but made his name in music after moving to San Francisco, where he formed the Greg Kihn Band. After releasing a handful of albums in the ’70s, Kihn earned his breakout hit in 1981 with “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em),” which rose to No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

A couple years later, the Greg Kihn Band released their biggest hit with “Jeopardy” from the 1983 album Kihnspiracy. The tune soared to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, only prevented from the top spot by Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

“Jeopardy” was famously parodied a year later by “Weird Al” Yankovic, who cleverly changed the chorus from “Our love’s in jeopardy” to “I lost on Jeopardy.”

Kihn praised Weird Al’s parody in a 2018 interview with Music Recall Magazine, saying, “I loved his version of ‘I Lost on Jeopardy.’ It was a brilliant parody. Al is a super talented musician. He invited me to appear in his video and I had a ball. God bless that man! I still get mailbox money from Weird Al!”

In addition to releasing many albums — including a successful run of pun-titled ’80s LPs (RocKihnRoll, Kihntinued, Kihnspiracy, Kihntagious, Citizen Kihn) — Kihn also wrote and published several horror novels. In addition, he was a DJ on the Bay Area classic rock radio station KUFX from 1996 through 2012.

Our condolences go out to Greg Kihn’s family, friends, and bandmates during this difficult time. Revisit his biggest hits “Jeopardy” and “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)” in the players below.