Ryuichi Sakamoto

Sakamoto started as a session player in mid-1970s Tokyo while studying at the National University of Fine Arts and Music. In 1978 he co-founded Yellow Magic Orchestra, the synth trio that pioneered electronic music genres and made him internationally visible. That same year he released Thousand Knives, an experimental fusion album, followed in 1980 by B-2 Unit - its track "Riot in Lagos" became foundational to electro and hip hop. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence in 1983 brought him onscreen as an actor and yielded "Forbidden Colours", an international hit single. Four years later The Last Emperor handed him an Academy Award for Best Original Score, the first ever for a Japanese composer. He continued scoring films through The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, and The Revenant, composed for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony, and in 1999 saw his instrumental "Energy Flow" become the first of its kind to hit number one on Japan's Oricon chart. He spent his later decades in collaborations with figures like DJ Spooky, Carsten Nicolai, and Fennesz, received France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2009, and died of colorectal cancer on March 28, 2023, at 71.