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"Rock and Roll Is Dead" is the first single released from the 1995 Lenny Kravitz album Circus. The song reached the top 20 in Canada, Finland, New Zealand, and Spain, but it underperformed in the United States, peaking at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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"Rock and Roll Is Dead"
Single by Lenny Kravitz
from the album Circus
B-side	"Confused" "Another Life" "Is It Me, Is It You?"
Released	August 28, 1995 (1995-08-28)
Length	3:24
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Lenny Kravitz
Producer(s)	Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz singles chronology
"Is There Any Love in Your Heart" (1994) "Rock and Roll Is Dead" (1995) "Circus" (1995)

Content

Kravitz told on the meaning of "Rock and Roll Is Dead":

That song was completely misunderstood. A lot of people don't take [the song] that one layer deeper--they hear the title and chorus and take it at face value. They think I'm being serious when actually I'm a very big clown. But you have to know me to see that. I'm constantly cracking up and cracking everybody else around me up. People see my photos and think I labor over my image and I'm this cool, brooding artist. But I'm just having fun with it.^{[citation needed]}

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Borrowing half of the riff from Led Zeppelin's Heartbreaker is not exactly the way to back up the statement he's making here. By going retro again, Kravitz reanimates rock totally. DJ Hans Van Rijn at Danish radio station The Voice/Copenhagen said, "As rock is still very big in Scandinavia, it will be a big radio hit. It's typical of him, the way it's structured. Although playable in all day slots, in the evening it will do best on EHR stations which pretend to cater to youth."[1] Kravitz was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for this song in 1996.[2]

On November 30, 1995, Prince released "Rock and Roll is Alive (and it Lives in Minneapolis)" as a response to the song. The song was a B-Side to the single "Gold".[3]

Chart performance

The song reached number 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. It was a top 10 hit in Finland, New Zealand and Spain, reaching numbers 10, eight, and five, respectively. In Canada, the song reached number 16. Elsewhere, the song reached the top 40 in Australia, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

Music video

The music video for "Rock and Roll Is Dead" was storyboarded by Andrew Trovaioli and directed by Ruven Afanador. The video shows Kravitz performing the song with his band, as well as Kravitz with visual artistic related backgrounds.

Track listings

1. "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
2. "Another Life" – 3:59
3. "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (Live performance) – 4:00

• Another version

1. "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
2. "Another Life" – 3:59
3. "Confused" – 6:48
4. "Is It Me, Is It You?" – 3:51

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[4]	26
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[5]	16
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)[6]	3
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[7]	31
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8]	10
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[9]	18
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10]	40
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11]	8
Scotland (OCC)[12]	23
Spain (AFYVE)[13]	5
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]	24
UK Singles (OCC)[15]	22
US Billboard Hot 100[16]	75
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[17]	10
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[18]	4

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	August 28, 1995 (1995-08-28)	10-inch vinyl CD cassette	Virgin	[19]
United States	September 12, 1995 (1995-09-12)	Contemporary hit radio		[20]

Cover versions

The same year that "Rock and Roll Is Dead" was released, Prince released a B-side called "Rock 'N' Roll Is Alive (And It Lives in Minneapolis)" for the single "Gold" from The Gold Experience album.

The song was covered by Mitsuki Aira on her debut album Copy.

Following its release, other artists have released songs of similar titles criticizing the demise of specific musical genres led by reckless artists, namely Marilyn Manson's 1999 "Rock Is Dead" and Nas' 2006 album and single Hip Hop Is Dead.

However, a song with same title in Russian ("Рок-н-ролл мёртв") was issued on 1982 album Radio Africa by Aquarium.

Even earlier, The Rubinoos had a song of the same name on their 1977 debut album.

References

External links

• Lenny Kravitz official site
• Official video on YouTube

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