Watch Kraftwerk Pay Tribute to the Late Ryuichi Sakamoto

When Ryuichi Sakamoto died in March 2023 following a long battle with cancer, he left behind a truly impressive catalog of inspired — and inspiring — music. Near the top of the list of those inspired by Sakamoto’s music are the electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk, who recently paid tribute to the Japanese composer at this year’s Fuji Rock Festival.

The quartet played a haunting version of Sakamoto’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” before launching into performances of “Geiger Counter” and “Radioactivity,” which featured some Japanese lyrics written by Sakamoto for the 2012 No Nuke Festival.

In related news, a posthumous Ryuichi Sakamoto album titled Opus will be released on August 9. Opus will feature reimagined and reworked versions of songs taken from throughout Sakamoto’s career, including his film scores and work with Yellow Magic Orchestra.