Ryuuichi Sakamoto

Gender: Male

Website | Twitter

Ryuuichi Sakamoto was an Academy Award, Grammy, and Golden Globe-winning Japanese musician, composer, record producer and actor, based in New York and Tokyo, Japan. He played the keyboards in the influential electropop band Yellow Magic Orchestra. His 1999 musical composition "Energy Flow" is the first number-one instrumental single in the Japan's Oricon charts history. He was ranked at number 59 in a list of the top 100 most influential musicians compiled by HMV.

Sakamoto had been married twice. His first marriage took place in 1972 but ended in divorce two years later. Sakamoto has a daughter from this relationship. Sakamoto then married popular Japanese pianist and singer Yano Akiko in 1982, having collaborated with her on some of her recordings. Sakamoto's second marriage ended in August 2006, 14 years after a mutual decision to live separately—Yano and Sakamoto raised one daughter, J-Pop singer Sakamoto Miu. Also, Sakamoto adopted Yano's son when they got married.

Sakamoto died as a result of his ongoing battle with cancer on March 28, 2023. His death was announced on April 2 through his website and Twitter account.