Oscar-Winning Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto Dead At 71
The prolific, multi-award winning music composer scored over 40 films, including The Revenant and The Last Emperor, for which he won an Oscar in 1988. Sakamoto had been undergoing cancer treatment after being diagnosed in 2020. Via Hollywood Reporter:
Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Oscar-winning composer, musician, actor, singer, producer, writer and activist from Japan, has died. He was 71.
Sakamoto died Tuesday of cancer, recording company Avex said Sunday in a statement posted to Twitter that thanks his medical teams in Japan and the U.S. and asks for fans to respect the privacy of his family at this time.
“While undergoing treatment for cancer discovered in June 2020, Sakamoto continued to create works in his home studio whenever his health would allow him to. He lived with music until the very end,” the statement said, noting a private funeral among close family has already taken place.
Full biography at the link.
Sakamoto had a cameo in the 1992 video for Madonna’s “Rain,” where he played the role of a director, and Madonna paid tribute to him today on her Instagram:
