Grief Is For The Living

“Vienna Vienna is unapologetically himself in his music, infusing vibrant energy into his relatable, anthemic lyrics.” - CONSEQUENCE

“Vienna Vienna’s sound is melody-forward, built on a foundation of shimmering reverb, electric guitar riffs full of personality, and juicy hooks lathered in witty playfulness, and ultimately, empowerment.” - ALT PRESS

Speaking on the song, J says, “When the bells ring, and you sit in that hard pew for the third time, you’ll wonder who it’s really all for. An urn wants for no party, no stories, no flowers and no wake. The dead have no desires, and no need to see you suffer for them. So why do you exhaust yourself with the same ritual of speaking into the wind as if they’re still here? Why do you zone out staring at strangers who keep their likeness? Why do you listen to their favorite songs over and over again until they take up permanent residence in your now aching head? What good does your weeping do for them? Just as it’s always been, the grief is for the living.”

The new single follows January’s Entertain Me EP, a project born from a period of personal clarity and artistic expansion. Across the release, Vienna Vienna interrogated modern distraction - drugs, the internet, self-destruction, desire - and the ways people lose themselves trying to escape reality. Since its release, Entertain Me has amassed over 1.8 million streams and earned early tastemaker support, including a conversation with Allison Hagendorf and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, alongside a feature from SPIN.

Vienna Vienna’s momentum continues to build online as fan-favorite track “Make a Man Out of You” recently saw streaming jump following its sync placement in the season finale of Off Campus’s final season, soundtracking one of the show’s major cliffhanger moments. Currently the #1 series on Prime Video in the U.S., the placement has already sparked a wave of discovery across platforms as excitement around the finale continues to grow.

For Vienna Vienna, the music reaches its fullest form onstage, where emotional chaos becomes catharsis, spectacle, and release. Blending glam theatrics with basement-show intensity, his performances turn shouted confessions into communal singalongs that feel equally unhinged and euphoric. Currently on tour supporting Daisy Grenade, Vienna Vienna will also appear at all three U.S. dates of the 2026 Vans Warped Tour.

Los Angeles, CA | May 22, 2026 - Los Angeles-based artist Vienna Vienna has made a career out of turning emotional wreckage into something euphoric. On his new single, “Grief Is For The Living,” out today via PULSE Records and DCD2 Records, he pushes that tension even further, channeling anger, absurdity, and existential collapse into a towering alt-rock anthem built for screaming in crowded rooms.

Waving between grimy ‘90s guitar textures, punchy live-wire drums, and psychedelic spirals, “Grief Is For The Living” opens like a slow emotional bleed before detonating into a soaring chorus carried by J’s magnetic, pleading vocals. It’s a song that treats grief less like solemn reflection and more like an uncontrollable physical force.

“I cry cause I’m pretty / Grief is for the living / and I’m still fucking kicking,” J shouts across the chorus, delivering one of the year’s most cathartic hooks with equal parts sneer and sincerity. Built around dynamic instrumentation and a volatile emotional center, the track captures the signature, chaos of Vienna Vienna’s self-described “Glimmer Rock” universe where queerness, dread, theatricality, and dance-floor release all coexist in beautifully unstable balance.

May 19 - Thunderbird Café & Music Hall - Pittsburgh, PA*

May 21 - A&R Music Bar - Columbus, OH*

May 22 - El Club - Detroit, MI*

May 23 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL*

May 26 - Marquis Theater - Denver, CO*

May 28 - Knitting Factory - Boise, ID*

May 30 - The Vera Project - Seattle, WA*

May 31 - Holocene - Portland, OR*

Jun 02 - Brick & Mortar Music Hall - San Francisco, CA*

Jun 04 - The Roxy Theatre - Los Angeles, CA*

Jun 05 - Voodoo Room at the House of Blues San Diego - San Diego, CA*

Jun 06 - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ*

Jun 09 - The Rock Box - San Antonio, TX*

Jun 10 - Puzzles Deep Ellum - Dallas, TX*

Jun 12 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA*

Jun 13-14 - Warped Tour - Washington DC

Jun 16 - Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA*

Jun 18 - The Fillmore Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA*

Jun 19 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY*

Jul 11 - Blessing In Disguise Festival 2026 - Spokane, WA*

Jul 25-26 - Warped Tour - Long Beach, CA

Nov 13-15 - Warped Tour - Orlando, FL *w/Daisy Grenade

Tour Dates

I’m still not feeling it

You missed everything but at least you’re infinite

I’m told that everyone dies but my friends we keep dropping like fruit flies

Surprise we’re pouring out a six pack at the funeral chewing on syntax

• Oh, watch me explode
• You split like a headache
• So give me a decade
• Oh, watch me explode
• I cry cause I’m pretty

Grief is for the living and I’m still fucking kicking

I smoke until I puke

‘cause it’s something to do I took my dirty head and I held it in the pool

I punch and kick through the water

Think of my father’s father’s father’s father

• Do it for me at 14
• Giving up’s boring
• Spiting up chlorine
• Oh, watch me explode
• You split like a headache
• So give me a decade
• Oh, watch me explode
• I cry cause I’m pretty

Grief is for the living and I’m still fucking kicking

• Oh, watch me explode
• You split like a headache
• So give me a decade
• Oh, watch me explode
• I cry cause I’m pretty

Grief is for the living and I’m still fucking kicking

• Oh, and I’m still fucking kicking
• I’m still fucking kicking
• Grief Is For The Living

Recorded by Tommy English & Jeremy Hatcher

• Mixed by Jeremy Hatcher
• Mastered by Chris Gehringer
• Dolby Atmos Mixer
• Remixer
• Genre Alternative
• Musicians / Instruments
• Vocals - Vienna Vienna

Electric Guitar - Vienna Vienna and Tommy English

• Bass - Jeremy Hatcher
• Drums - Ulf Wahlgren
• Programming - Tommy English
• Photography: designed in house at PULSE

“When the bells ring, and you sit in that hard pew for the third time, you’ll wonder who it’s really all for. An urn wants for no party, no stories, no flowers and no wake. The dead have no desires, and no need to see you suffer for them. So why do you exhaust yourself with the same ritual of speaking into the wind as if they’re still here? Why do you zone out staring at strangers who keep their likeness? Why do you listen to their favorite songs over and over again until they take up permanent residence in your now aching head? What good does your weeping do for them? Just as it’s always been, the grief is for the living.”

- Vienna Vienna