Ryuichi Sakamoto, Pioneering Electronic Musician And Oscar Winner For ‘Last Emperor Score, Dies At 71
Ryuichi Sakamoto, an influential electronic music composer and member of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, who won an Oscar for his score to The Last Emperor and wrote the haunting music for Merry Christmas, Mr. White. Lawrence died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 71 years old.
A statement from his management company said: “He lived music to the end. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to his fans and everyone who has supported his work, as well as medical professionals in Japan and the United States." . States that did their best to cure him."
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Sakamoto also performed; He co-starred with David Bowie in the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Jones. Lawrence, the story of a British colonel who tries to make peace between a Japanese warlord played by Sakamoto and a British prisoner of war played by Bowie. The theme song "Forbidden Colors", written and performed by David Sylvain and co-written by the film's haunting Sakamoto theme, was released as a single and became a hit; we can still hear it at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes 40 years after it was presented in the official competition.
He also appeared in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for music along with David Byrne and Kong Su.
Other films he directed include Brian de Palma's Femme Fatale and Snake Eyes, Pedro Almodóvar's High Heels, Bertolucci's Little Buddha and Sheltering Sky, and Oliver Stone's mini-series Wild Palms. He wrote a song for the soundtrack of Gustavo Santaolala's film Babylon.
He was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and announced in 2021 that he had also been diagnosed with colon cancer. His death came a few weeks after the death of Yukihiro Takahashi, co-founder of the Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Born in Tokyo on January 17, 1952, Sakamoto was something of a child prodigy who played the piano in his youth and predicted his future work in electronic music in high school by studying the sounds of Japanese commuter trains. Entering the National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo in 1970, Sakamoto received a bachelor's degree in music composition, a master's degree in electronic and ethnic music, and studied ethnomusicology with the desire to become a researcher of traditional music in Japan, become India. and Africa
As his classical music training took over (Claude Debussy was an inspiration), Sakamoto began to apply his research to a new interest in computers and electronic musical equipment such as the ARP, Moog and Büchla synthesizers.
Although Sakamoto collaborated with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki to release the experimental song "Disappointment-Hateruma" in 1975, the keyboardist's early fame was due to his relationship with Takahashi (who died on January 11, 2023) and multi-instrumentalist Haruomi Hosano. The trio formed the Yellow Magic Orchestra, a Kraftwerk-like ensemble with an emphasis on rich melody and new wave qualities, and released their self-titled debut album in 1978, the same year that Sakamoto released his solo debut, Thousand Knives.
With seven albums released between 1978 and 1983, the Yellow Magic Orchestra and the solo work of its members had a strong influence on the wave of synthpop that swept through England and the United States in the following years and beyond. Along with international hits such as "Computer Game/Firecracker" and "Technopolis", Sakamoto YMO's "Behind the Mask" was performed by Eric Clapton on his 1986 August album and recorded by Michael Jackson for 1982. Polar. However, Jackson's original track did not make it to Thriller due to a royalty dispute with YMO management, but a remixed version was eventually released on Jackson's 2010 posthumous album Michael, with its original demo released in 2022. "Thriller. 40".
Yellow Magic Orchestra disbanded in 1984, regrouped several times to tour Japan, and released the album Technodon in 1993.
By this time, however, the members already had solo careers, most notably Sakamoto, whose work on "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence made him an international star, and musical collaborations with Iggy Pop, Adrian Bellew and many others (including an appearance in the film by Madonna). ) the 1992 music video for "Rain"), as well as her ongoing work on the soundtrack.
He composed music for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain (live to over a billion viewers), Bertolucci's "Under the Sky", Oliver Stone's "Wild Palms", Brian De's ABC television series "Snake Eyes, Palms" and more. . Sakamoto's last published soundtrack was for the 2022 Netflix sci-fi horror anime series Shutdown. In February 2023, Sakamoto took on his next soundtrack writing job to score the upcoming Palme d'Or-winning film Monster, directed by Hirokazu Kare-Edo, although the status of the job is still unclear.
Sakamoto also continued to record solo albums in various styles and forms, including the experimental 2004 Chasm with former bandmates Hosan and Takahashi.
In 2014, he was diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, but the following year he cautiously announced that his condition had improved. “Now I'm fine. I am feeling better. Much, much better,” he said. “I feel the energy inside, but who knows. Cancer can come back in three years, five years, maybe 10 years.”
In 2017 he released one of his most emotional albums "Async" and in 2018 he released a remix album "Async - Remodels" with young producers such as Fennesz, Cornelius, Oneohtrix Point Never and Arca.
“Ryuichi is very interested in new music, new forms,” says J.S. Chamboredon, head of the Milan-based Sakamoto label and longtime confidant. “He is very opinionated and loves watching YouTube and underground bands. He's always interested."
After achieving remission from throat cancer, Sakamoto was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2021 and wrote: “From now on, I will live with cancer. But I hope to make some more music.
In addition to releasing a diary album "12" in 2023 and a tribute album to various artists "To the Moon and Back" in late 2022, Sakamoto is in the planning stages of "KAGAMI" to be released next year. In NYC. scheduled for this summer at The Shed in New York. According to mixed reality content production studio Tin Drum, the showcase will feature a new kind of concert that combines moving photography with the real world in a mixed presentation. Although Sakamoto is not physically present in New York City, viewers using optically transparent devices will be able to see a virtual Sakamoto playing the piano along with 3D art combined with music. It was not immediately clear if the show would change after his death; however, it will clearly go in a completely different direction.
Sakamoto is survived by his wife and manager Noriko Sora; his ex-wife, Japanese pianist and singer Akiko Yano; and four children.
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