# Rock and Roll Is Dead

"Rock and Roll Is Dead" is a song by American musician Lenny Kravitz, released in August 1995 by Virgin as the first single from his fourth album, Circus (1995). 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 Ruven 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":
   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.

## 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.

## Charts

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

## Release history

| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) |
| United Kingdom | August 28, 1995 | 10-inch vinylCDcassette | Virgin |
| Japan | September 6, 1995 | Mini-CD | Virgin |
| United States | September 12, 1995 | Contemporary hit radio | Virgin |