Ryuichi Sakamoto's death in March, 2023 at age 71, left a gaping hole for anyone touched by his legendary compositions—a long list of people. Sakamoto initially rose to fame as a member of the much loved and pioneering Yellow Magic Orchestra, influencing virtually all genres with an electronic element, from synth pop to house to hip-hop and beyond. After YMO's hiatus in 1984, Sakamoto's focus shifted to his solo career and composing scores. He created a string of film scores for renowned directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian DePalma, Takashi Miike, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and others, all while composing music for video games, working on collaborative albums, and even writing a song for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's death in March, 2023 at age 71, left a gaping hole for anyone touched by his legendary compositions—a long list of people. Sakamoto initially rose to fame as a member of the much loved and pioneering Yellow Magic Orchestra, influencing virtually all genres with an electronic element, from synth pop to house to hip-hop and beyond. After YMO's hiatus in 1984, Sakamoto's focus shifted to his solo career and composing scores. He created a string of film scores for renowned directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian DePalma, Takashi Miike, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and others, all while composing music for video games, working on collaborative albums, and even writing a song for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Ryuichi Sakamoto's death in March, 2023 at age 71, left a gaping hole for anyone touched by his legendary compositions—a long list of people. Sakamoto initially rose to fame as a member of the much loved and pioneering Yellow Magic Orchestra, influencing virtually all genres with an electronic element, from synth pop to house to hip-hop and beyond. After YMO's hiatus in 1984, Sakamoto's focus shifted to his solo career and composing scores. He created a string of film scores for renowned directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Brian DePalma, Takashi Miike, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and others, all while composing music for video games, working on collaborative albums, and even writing a song for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
A comprehensive collection of Sakamoto’s instrumental songs and film music from a master of Minimalist piano. Famed worldwide as a film composer, Ryiuchi Sakamoto began his career as a pianist, creating patterns, phrases and innovative arrangements before joining his first commercial electronic pop band in 1978, the Yellow Magic Orchestra. Around the same time, he worked on his first solo album, the Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto (1978), which blends up-to-date electronic techniques with an old-fashioned gift for good tunes. Riot in Lagos brought him fame beyond Japan, and he went on to work with many top producers of pop, dance and electro.