STARTS NOW WITH BREAKING NEWS. BREAKING TONIGHT. SAD NEWS FROM THE PITTSBURGH MUSIC SCENE. GUITARIST JOE NEGRI HAS DIED JUST DAYS BEFORE HE WOULD HAVE TURNED 100 YEARS OLD. NEGRI WAS A NATIONALLY KNOWN MUSICIAN AND ALSO PART OF MISTER ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD, WHERE HE PLAYED HANDYMAN NEGRI FOR 30 YEARS. NEGRI TAUGHT AT PITT AND DUQUESNE AND WON A LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ART
Joe Negri, beloved Mister Rogers’ ‘Handyman,’ jazz guitarist, dies days before 100th birthday
Joe Negri, one of the beloved neighbors on the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television show, died just days before his 100th birthday. Pittsburgh sister station WTAE’s news partners at TribLIVE first reported that Negri’s oldest daughter, Lisa, said her father passed away Saturday of natural causes. Other news outlets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have also reported that Negri died at age 99. Negri was a Pittsburgh native and was a well-known jazz musician. He would have been 100 years old on June 10, 2026, and a celebration with his family and others in the city’s music was slated to be held to celebrate.On the website for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” he is described as a “jazz guitarist and friendly neighbor,” who played the owner of Negri’s Music Shop in Mister Rogers’ “real” neighborhood, and as Handyman Negri in the “Neighborhood of Make Believe.” An educator, Negri also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, which are both in Pittsburgh, according to TribLIVE.Video below: Remembering those we lost in 2026
Joe Negri, one of the beloved neighbors on the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” television show, died just days before his 100th birthday.
Pittsburgh sister station WTAE’s news partners at TribLIVE first reported that Negri’s oldest daughter, Lisa, said her father passed away Saturday of natural causes.
Other news outlets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have also reported that Negri died at age 99.
Negri was a Pittsburgh native and was a well-known jazz musician. He would have been 100 years old on June 10, 2026, and a celebration with his family and others in the city’s music was slated to be held to celebrate.
On the website for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” he is described as a “jazz guitarist and friendly neighbor,” who played the owner of Negri’s Music Shop in Mister Rogers’ “real” neighborhood, and as Handyman Negri in the “Neighborhood of Make Believe.”
An educator, Negri also taught at the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, which are both in Pittsburgh, according to TribLIVE.
Video below: Remembering those we lost in 2026
