Shigeichi Negishi, the Japanese entrepreneur who invented the first-ever karaoke machine, died on January 26, The Wall Street Journal reports. Negishi, who was based in Tokyo, was 100 years old. Journalist Matt Alt, who interviewed Negishi for his book Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World, reported the news on X and expanded on … Read more
In 2014, Vybz Kartel was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams. The Jamaican dancehall star has now won an appeal of his conviction due to juror misconduct in the original trial, Reuters reports. A Jamaican appeals court will now decide whether the musician and his … Read more
Boss, the Detroit rapper who became one of the first women to sign to Def Jam Recordings, has died of kidney failure, The Detroit News reports, citing a family spokesperson. The musician had been crowdfunding treatment for renal disease after a major stroke and seizure in 2017, according to a GoFundMe page. Boss was 54 … Read more
Eric Carmen, the frontman of ‘70s pop-rock band Raspberries and solo artist with over a dozen charting singles, including the 1975 hit “All by Myself,” has died, his wife Amy Carmen revealed in a post on his website. She wrote that he died in his sleep over the weekend. Carmen was 74 years old. “It … Read more
Juan Mendez, the techno producer and DJ better known as Silent Servant, has died. Resident Advisor initially reported the news, which was confirmed to Pitchfork via Mendez’s representatives. A cause of death has not been revealed at this time. Mendez was born in Central America to Cuban and Mexican parents and raised in Los Angeles. … Read more
Mary Weiss, the lead singer of the formative girl group the Shangri-Las, has died, confirmed Miriam Linna of Norton Records, the label that released Weiss’ lone solo album, Dangerous Game, in 2007. “Mary was an icon, a hero, a heroine, to both young men and women of my generation and of all generations,” Linna told … Read more
The lasting influence of McCann was apparent in real time, but especially in the 1990s and 2000s when countless artists began sampling his songs in their own music. While bands like Massive Attack, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and H2O included portions of his tracks in their own, McCann’s pulse imprinted most effortlessly and noticeably … Read more
Tom Smothers died on Tuesday (December 26) at his home, the National Comedy Center announced. The comedian and musician had been living with cancer. Smothers was 86 years old. Thomas Bolyn “Tom” Smothers III was born in New York in 1937. With his family, including younger brother Dick, Smothers moved to California where he graduated … Read more
Nick Cave has written a eulogy in The Guardian for his longtime friend Shane MacGowan, who died last month at the age of 65. Cave first met the Pogues frontman in 1989, when NME called a “summit meeting” of the two artists along with the Fall’s Mark E Smith. “I was excited because I was … Read more
Shane MacGowan, the frontman and songwriter of the Irish punk band the Pogues, died this morning (November 30), BBC News reports, citing an Instagram post by his wife, Victoria Mary Clarke. A spokesperson confirmed the news to the BBC, saying he died peacefully with his wife and and sister by his side. He was 65 … Read more