"Rock and Roll Is Dead" is the first single released from the 1995
Lenny Kravitz album ''
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...
''. 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.
Content
Kravitz told on the meaning of "Rock and Roll Is Dead":
Critical reception
Pan-European magazine ''
Music & Media'' wrote, "Borrowing half of the riff from
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
'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
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
said, "As
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
is still very big in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
, 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." Kravitz was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to male recording artists for works (songs or albums) containin ...
for this song in 1996.
Chart performance
The song reached number 75 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 22 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. 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
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
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
US and Canadian CD single; US cassette single
# "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
# "Another Life" – 3:59
# "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (live) – 4:00
UK CD and 10-inch single
# "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
# "Another Life" – 4:21
# "Confused" – 6:48
# "Is It Me, Is It You?" – 3:54
UK cassette single and European CD single
# "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
# "Another Life" – 4:21
Japanese mini-CD single
# "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:24
# "God Is Love" – 4:26
Charts
Release history
References
External links
Lenny Kravitz official siteOfficial video on YouTube
{{Authority control
1995 singles
Lenny Kravitz songs
Song recordings produced by Lenny Kravitz
Songs written by Lenny Kravitz