Maestro Ryuichi Sakamoto poses during a photo call for the film “Coda” at the 74th Venice Film … [+] Festival in Venice, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
One of the finest composers in recent memory is arguably that of Ryuichi Sakamoto. So it is with great sadness to hear that he has died at the age of 71.
Initially announced via Twitter, it was followed up by Yahoo News in Japan giving more details. That he died on March 28 and had been battling with Stage 4 rectal cancer, which had since spread to both lungs.
One of the founding members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sakamoto would also go on to become a capable musical composer in his own right. Not to mention branching out into acting, opposite follow musician David Bowie in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (which he also wrote the score for).
He also scored the hugely influential anime movie The Wings of Honneamise, which is still widely regarded as a classic within the world of animation.
However, it was his support for burgeoning musicians and their access to second-hand electronic instruments that had a very wide impact in Japan. Not least because it also meant that much of Japanese gaming history was able to be preserved and not locked away by greedy rights holders.
More recently Sakamoto composed the score for The Revenant, but his declining health had been an issue in the years since.
As always, my heart goes out to his friends and family at this time.
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Ollie Barder