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. He began his career in 1978 as a member of the pioneering electronic music group Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), where he played keyboards and was an occasional vocalist. The band was an international success, with worldwide hits such as “Computer Game / Firecracker” (1978) and “Behind the Mask” (1978), the latter written and sung by Sakamoto.
He concurrently began pursuing a solo career, debuting with the experimental electronic fusion album The Thousand Knives of Ryūichi Sakamoto (1978), and later released the pioneering album B-2 Unit (1980), which included the electro classic “Riot in Lagos”.
After YMO disbanded in 1983, he produced more solo records, including collaborations with various international artists, through to the 1990s.
He began acting and composing for film with Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), which he starred in and composed the score for; the song “Forbidden Colours” which he composed for it became a worldwide hit, and he won a BAFTA Award for the film’s score.
He later won an Academy Award and Grammy Award for scoring The Last Emperor (1987), and has also won two Golden Globe Awards for his work as a film composer.In addition, he also composed music for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony.
In the early 1990s, he briefly reunited with YMO, playing an instrumental role in the techno and acid house movements of the era, before parting ways again shortly afterwards.
His 1999 musical composition “Energy Flow”, also known as the alternative title of the single disc Ura BTTB, was the first number-one instrumental single in Japan’s Oricon charts history.
He has also occasionally worked on anime and video games, as a composer as well as a scenario writer. In the late 2000s, he reunited once again with YMO, while continuing to compose film music. In 2009, he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from France’s Ministry of Culture for his musical contributions.
