A wave of sadness shadowed the music stratosphere when Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on March 28. News quickly scattered all across social media as the announcement of his passing condensed the news outlets just five days after the composer’s death at 71 years of age. A gigantic force to be reckoned with, Sakamoto was adored by many, achieving worldwide success through the making of soundtracks for The Revenant (2015), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), and The Last Emperor (1987).
While his undeniable talent and gigantic contributions to the music world are sufficient reasons for grief and mourning from every artist in the industry, many may be surprised that a few of the first world-renowned stars to have openly mourned the passing of Sakamoto were BTS‘ RM and Suga. Two of the rappers from the astronomically adored South Korean K-Pop group have paid their respects to the composer via their Instagram and Weverse accounts, after sharing their admiration for Sakamoto for years.
BTS’ Suga and RM pay respects to Ryuichi Sakamoto
Over the years, both rappers and producers have openly praised Sakamoto as a musician, composer, friend, and teacher. From sharing signed copies of his CD’s to playing Sakamoto’s songs on the piano, the two leading behind-the-scenes forces of the group always manifested their immense admiration for the Japanese composer’s work. Moreover, Suga met Sakamoto back in September, when the composer shared a few kind words praising his junior, as they exchanged musical opinions transcending nationality, age, and music genre.
“He’s a world-class idol that doesn’t need to be explained, but when we talked, he was a young man who was never arrogant and was very serious about his musical activities. [Suga] thinks so much about music that one could think he has no other hobbies.”
The faithful meeting between Suga and Sakamoto — which occurred while the composer was battling rectal cancer — will allegedly be televised in the upcoming documentary SUGA: Road to D-Day. In the Disney Plus documentary, fans and admirers will be able to reunite with Sakamoto in one of his last public appearances, as the feature-length doc depicts the life of the BTS rapper since BTS’ break announcement as the singer projects his individual album and tour into the universe.
Three months after the BTS member and Sakamoto met, the composer announced in his December concert that it might have been the last time he would step on stage. Even if ominous, his instinct proved correct, as it would be the last time an audience would have the pleasure of attending and seeing live one of the greatest musical minds of the century.
Sakamoto will forever remain immortalized through his music and survived by his family. Farewell, Mr. Sakamoto.