Ryuichi Sakamoto

Ryuichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
坂本龍一
	Sakamoto in 2008
Born	January 17, 1952; Nakano, Tokyo, Japan
Died	March 28, 2023 (aged 71); Tokyo, Japan
Education	Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (B.A., M.A.)
Occupations	Musician; record producer; actor; activist;
Years active	1975–2023
Spouses	Natsuko Sakamoto (m. 1972; div. 1982); Akiko Yano (m. 1982; div. 2006);
Children	4, including Miu
	Musical career
Genres	Electronic; pop; world; ambient; avant-garde; minimal; film score;
Instrument(s)	Keyboard; piano; synthesizer; vocals;
Discography	Ryuichi Sakamoto discography
Labels	Columbia; Alfa; MIDI; Sony Japan; EMI; For Life; Warner; Commmons; A&M; Restless;
Formerly of	Yellow Magic Orchestra; Sketch Show;
Japanese name
Kanji	坂本龍一
Hiragana	さかもとりゅういち
Romanization
Transcriptions
Romanization	Sakamoto Ryūichi
Website	www.sitesakamoto.com

Ryuichi Sakamoto (Japanese: 坂本龍一^[b], Hepburn: Sakamoto Ryūichi, January 17, 1952 – March 28, 2023) was a Japanese composer, pianist, record producer, and actor who pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto influenced and pioneered a number of electronic music genres.^[1]

Sakamoto began his career as a session musician, producer, and arranger, while he was at university in the 1970s. His first major success came in 1978 as co-founder of YMO. He pursued a solo career at the same time, releasing the experimental electronic fusion album Thousand Knives in 1978, and the album B-2 Unit in 1980. B-2 Unit included the track "Riot in Lagos", which was a significant contribution to the development of electro and hip hop music.^[2]^[3]^[4] He went on to produce more solo records, and collaborate with many international artists, David Sylvian, Carsten Nicolai, Youssou N'Dour, and Fennesz among them. Sakamoto composed music for the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics,^[5] and his composition "Energy Flow" (1999) was the first instrumental number-one single in Japan's Oricon charts history.^[6]

As a film score composer, Sakamoto won an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Grammy, and two Golden Globe Awards. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) marked his debut as both an actor and a film-score composer; its main theme was adapted into the single "Forbidden Colours" which became an international hit. His most successful work as a film composer was The Last Emperor (1987), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, making him the first Japanese composer to win an Academy Award.^[7] after which he continued earning accolades composing for films such as The Sheltering Sky (1990), Little Buddha (1993), and The Revenant (2015). On occasion, Sakamoto also worked as a composer and a scenario writer on anime and video games. He was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the Ministry of Culture of France in 2009 for his contributions to music.^[8]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ Cite error: The named reference JV was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference broughton_2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference mantronik_interview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference wire_1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Beale, Lewis (June 21, 1992). "Maestro of the Universe : African Drummers, Japanese Chants, Irish Flutes—the High-tech, High-concept music of Ryuichi Sakamoto Is All Over the Map". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
^ "Sakamoto's 'energy Flow' Enlivens Japan". AllBusiness.com. July 2, 1999. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
^ Jim Sullivan (February 8, 1998). "Ryuichi Sakamoto Goes Avant-Classical". The Boston Globe. p. 8. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
^ Denise Sullivan (May 13, 2011). "What Makes A Legend: Ryuichi Sakamoto". Crawdaddy!. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2011.

[JV-3] Cite error: The named reference JV was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[broughton_2007-4] Cite error: The named reference broughton_2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[mantronik_interview-5] Cite error: The named reference mantronik_interview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[wire_1996-6] Cite error: The named reference wire_1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[LAOL-7] Beale, Lewis (June 21, 1992). "Maestro of the Universe : African Drummers, Japanese Chants, Irish Flutes—the High-tech, High-concept music of Ryuichi Sakamoto Is All Over the Map". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 5, 2023.

[8] "Sakamoto's 'energy Flow' Enlivens Japan". AllBusiness.com. July 2, 1999. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2008.

[boston_sullivan-9] Jim Sullivan (February 8, 1998). "Ryuichi Sakamoto Goes Avant-Classical". The Boston Globe. p. 8. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2011.

[crawdaddy-10] Denise Sullivan (May 13, 2011). "What Makes A Legend: Ryuichi Sakamoto". Crawdaddy!. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2011.

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