Michigan woman whose name inspired band to become Greta Van Fleet dies at 95

FRANKENMUTH, Mich. (AP) — Gretna Van Fleet didn't play music with Greta Van Fleet. But maybe she got the next best thing: The Grammy-winning rock band uses her name.

The 95-year-old Michigan woman died Monday at a senior living center in Frankenmuth, according to her obituary, the same community where the band was formed in 2012 when Van Fleet was in her 80s.

“I think they checked out my background to make sure I wasn’t on the Ten Most Wanted list or something, and they went ahead with it,” Van Fleet jokingly told MLive.com in 2019, ahead of the band's appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

“But later, when I met the boys, I said, ‘That’s OK.' But, no, they did not approach me to begin with," Van Fleet said.

Kyle Hauck, a drummer in the band's early days, has told interviewers that a name was needed in time for a local performance. He said he heard his grandfather talk about helping a friend, Gretna Van Fleet. Something clicked. The band dropped the ‘n’ in Gretna and Greta Van Fleet was born.

The band won a Grammy in 2019 for best rock album, “From The Fires,” and had other nominations that year. Greta Van Fleet's “Starcatcher” was nominated for best album in 2024.

Gretna Van Fleet's obituary describes her, too, as being “musically talented,” playing a variety of instruments including saxophone, violin, tuba and piano.

She said in the 2019 interview that her favorite song by the band was “Flower Power.”

“There’s a couple others that I like, but that’s not really my style," Van Fleet said of the music. "It’s not my era that they’re making popular come back.”

Gretna Van Fleet smiles during an interview at her home in Frankenmuth, Mich, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. (Kaytie Boomer/Saginaw News via AP)

Photographs of the band Greta Van Fleet with Gretna Van Fleet and her husband sit on a desk at her home in Frankenmuth, Mich, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. (Kaytie Boomer/Saginaw News via AP)

Gretna VanFleet plays one of her favorite hymns at her home in Frankenmuth, Mich, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. (Kaytie Boomer/Saginaw News via AP)

Gretna Van Fleet smiles holds a photograph of her with the band Greta Van Fleet at her home in Frankenmuth, Mich, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. (Kaytie Boomer/Saginaw News via AP)

Gretna Van Fleet smiles during an interview at her home in Frankenmuth, Mich, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. (Kaytie Boomer/Saginaw News via AP)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Voters in Kosovo headed to the polls Sunday for an early parliamentary election, the third in 18 months, in an attempt to unlock a political impasse in the small Balkan nation that is striving to join the European Union and NATO.

Sunday's ballot was scheduled after the main political parties failed to agree by a March deadline on who should replace former President Vjosa Osmani. The first inconclusive election in February 2025 left the country without a functioning government for much of last year, forcing a second election in December.

The prolonged crisis has negatively affected Kosovo’s economy, already hit hard by the global energy crisis and rising fuel prices. One of the youngest and poorest countries in Europe declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO bombing that forced Serbia to withdraw.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s center-left Vetevendosje party has held a clear parliamentary majority since the early election in December. But Kosovo’s president is elected by at least 80 lawmakers in the 120-member assembly, requiring a broader political consensus.

Kurti is being challenged by the two main opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo, which have accused him of seeking to impose full control over all political institutions in the country.

“Today is a sunny Sunday, a very important day for democracy in Kosovo," Kurti said upon voting. “I hope the people of Kosovo once again will show their maturity as always, with a very high turnout.”

Former president Osmani is running on the opposition LDK list in the election, having turned against Kurti after he refused to back her for a second term. Osmani on Sunday expressed “great optimism” that the election will "take us out of the repeated crisis that has damaged our country, both domestically and beyond our borders.”

While the key players blamed each other for the crisis, their inability to reach a compromise has fueled disappointment among Kosovo’s around 2 million voters, who want the government to focus on the economy and living standards instead.

Analysts still don't expect major changes in the election outcome compared to the previous vote in December.

Arton Smajli, 42, a resident of the capital, Pristina, is hoping for a “positive change.” He said that “we are tired, but the will for change is greater than that.”

Sejdi Shala, 73, is also optimistic the election will bring "stability of the institutions and the society.”

The institutional vacuum, without a stable government, has delayed access to the EU and other international funds available to the country. European Council President Antonio Costa, during a visit last week, urged Kosovo to end the political stalemate and unite over the goal of EU integration.

Kosovo has been recognized by the United States and most EU countries, but not by Serbia and its allies, Russia and China. Pristina and Belgrade have been told they must mend relations to move forward with their EU membership bids.

People wait at a bus station displaying election posters in capital Pristina, Kosovo, Friday, June 5, 2026, ahead of snap parliamentary elections on June 7. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Vjosa Osmani, Kosovo former president, waves to supporter at the closing political rally of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), in capital Pristina on Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People pass by a giant election poster of acting prime minister Albin Kurti, in capital Pristina, Kosovo, Friday, June 5, 2026, ahead of snap parliamentary elections on June 7. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)