The distinctive soundtrack that has accompanied the PlayStation logo in ads for a quarter of a century was created by a Japanese musician named Tohru Okada, who has since passed away.
His bandmates verified Okada’s passing today on Twitter and on the Japanese news website Excite. According to Excite, Okada died of cardiac failure on the morning of February 14 at the age of 73.
People may not have known the composer by name before he passed away, but they were undoubtedly familiar with his music from the many years of PlayStation ads. According to GameSpot, Okada not only contributed to the PlayStation logo jingle but also created a song that was featured in some outrageous early Crash Bandicoot ads in Japan. Here’s a video tracing the development of the recognizable logo sound that has capped off so many PlayStation ads over the past 25 years in case you need a journey down memory lane.
Apart from his work on the PlayStation logo sound effect, Okada was also a founding member of the well-known Japanese music group The Moonriders. Along with fellow founder Keiichi Suzuki, Okada played the piano for the group. Similar to Okada, Suzuki made significant musical contributions to classic Nintendo RPGs like Mother (also known as EarthBound Beginnings in the West) and EarthBound. He also wrote the soundtrack for Satoshi Kon’s acclaimed anime film Tokyo Godfathers.
According to Excite, Okada revealed last year that he had a compression injury and had to go into the hospital. In a statement at the time, Okada’s agent stated that his intention was to recover in time to perform at the Hyde Park Music Festival in Sayama, Japan, where he formerly resided, on April 29 and 30. The Moonriders’ scheduled performance has been postponed, but the band members still intend to discuss Okada at the gathering, according to the group’s official Facebook page.
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