From his origins as a member of the Yellow Magic Orchestra and his collaborative album Insen with ambient producer Alva Noto to his numerous wins and nominations across the film and music industry (every award you could think of except the Tony) makes Ryuichi Sakamoto—for lack of a better term—a renaissance man. The Japanese composer, singer, and pianist hit the world with some very unfortunate news: he has been diagnosed with throat cancer. In addition to this, he has decided in a statement that he is cancelling all of his forthcoming dates in order to work on his health.
“I deeply regret causing so many people considerable inconvenience. However, the first wealth is health, and hence this bitter decision”, he writes in the opening of his letter.
We can only hope a speedy recovery for Ryuichi-san, so he can continue to bless the world with his incredible talent.
