Karaoke machine inventor Shigeichi Negishi passes away

Shigeichi Negishi, the Japanese who invented the karaoke machine, has passed away. He was 100 years old. 

The announcement was made on X (formerly Twitter) by “Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World” author Matt Alt, who interviewed Negishi for his book.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Negishi’s daughter Atsumi Takano confirmed that her father died of natural causes last January 26.

“He felt a lot of pride in seeing his idea evolve into a culture of having fun through song around the world,” she told The Wall Street Journal. “To him, spending a hundred years surrounded by his family was reward enough.”

Negishi designed a device called the Sparko Box in 1967. The Sparko Box utilized eight-track cassettes of commercially available instrumental songs, with lyrics provided in a paper booklet.

The machine was termed the Sparko Box because of the flashing lights that appeared in later versions of the gadget.

Before creating karaoke, he owned a consumer electronics assembly company. An engineer’s criticism of his singing inspired the creation of the Sparko Box.

Farewell to another legend: Shigeichi Negishi, inventor of karaoke, has died age 100. By automating the sing-along, he earned the enmity of performers who saw his machine as a threat to their jobs. It’s an eerie precursor of the debate surrounding AI’s impact on artists today. pic.twitter.com/ZOpLdSisb2

— Matt Alt (@Matt_Alt) March 14, 2024

—Jade Veronique Yap/MGP, GMA Integrated News