Rock and Roll Is Dead


"Rock and Roll Is Dead" is a song by American musician Lenny Kravitz, released in August 1995 by Virgin Records as the first single from his fourth album, Circus. The song, both written and produced by Kravitz, 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. The music video for "Rock and Roll Is Dead" was storyboarded by Andrew Trovaioli and directed by Ruvén Afanador. It shows Kravitz performing the song with his band, as well as Kravitz with visual artistic related backgrounds. Kravitz was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song in 1996.

Content

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

Critical reception

Everett True from Melody Maker said in his review of the song, "F***ing way to go, Lenny!" 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." Paul Moody from NME felt it "could've been a classic opener" of the album, noting that it "is the riff from 'Are You Gonna...' played backwards".

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.

Track listings

US and Canadian CD single; US cassette single
  1. "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
  2. "Another Life" – 3:59
  3. "Are You Gonna Go My Way" – 4:00UK CD and 10-inch single
  4. "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
  5. "Another Life" – 4:21
  6. "Confused" – 6:48
  7. "Is It Me, Is It You?" – 3:54UK cassette single and European CD single
  8. "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:22
  9. "Another Life" – 4:21Japanese mini-CD single
  10. "Rock and Roll Is Dead" – 3:24
  11. "God Is Love" – 4:26