Ryuichi Sakamoto (born January 17, 1952) is a Japanese musician, activist, composer, record producer, writer, singer, pianist, and actor based in Tokyo and New York. Beginning his career in 1978 as a member of the electronic music group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), Sakamoto served on keyboards and sometimes vocals. The band was an international success, with worldwide hits such as Computer Game / Firecracker (1978) and Behind the Mask (1978), later playing a pioneering role in the techno and acid house movements of the 1990s. He concurrently pursued a solo career, debuting with the experimental electronic fusion album Thousand Knives (1978), and later released the pioneering album B-2 Unit (1980), which included the electro classic Riot in Lagos. From thereon, he produced more solo records, collaborated with many international artists, and pursued a wide variety of projects, such as having composed music for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony. His composition Energy Flow (1999) (also known as the alternative title of the single disc Ura BTTB) was the first instrumental number-one single in Japans Oricon charts history. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) marked his debut as a film score composer and as an actor. The films score received a BAFTA Award, and its main theme was adapted into a pop single entitled Forbidden Colours which became a worldwide hit. For his work as a film composer, he has won a Golden Globe Award for The Sheltering Sky (1990), plus another Golden Globe, Grammy, and Academy Award for The Last Emperor (1987). In 2009, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from Frances Ministry of Culture for his musical contributions. On occasion, Sakamoto has also worked on anime and video games as a composer as well as a scenario writer.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 23:38:34 +0000
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