Musician Yukihiro Takahashi, electronic pioneer, dies at 70

the japanese musician Yukihiro Takahashico-founder, drummer and lead vocalist of the influential group Yellow Magic Orchestrahas died at the age of 70 from complications of brain cancer, local media reported this Sunday.

Born in Tokyo in 1952, Takahashi debuted in 1972 as a drummer for the Sadistic Mika Band and five years later he would release his first solo album after the dissolution of the group, Saravah.

in 1978 he co-founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Haruomi Hosonoa pioneer in the electronic music genre through the use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers and digital recording technology.

Yellow Magic Orchestra released eight studio albums between its founding and 1993, including LPs such as Solid State Survivor Y BGM or songs like rydeen, Technopolis Y Computer Gameone of the most successful internationally.

Among the groups that have openly recognized the influence of the Japanese group are Duran Duran, Depeche Mode or Ultravoxwhile artists like Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey, Orbital or Afrika Bambaataa have covered or mixed their songs.

Since the Yellow Magic Orchestra dissolved in 1984 they reunited on several occasions until 2012 and Takahashi continued to work solo. His last job was Saravah, Saravah! (2018), a remastering of his solo debut.

Among his works there were also compositions for video games, cinema or animationlike those of the series Fushigi no Umi no Nadia (Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Stone1990).

In 2020 Takahashi was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent an operation to remove it, but in 2021 revealed more health complications.

Among the media that echoed Takahashi’s death today, citing sources close to the musician, were the Yomiuri and Mainichi newspapers or the Kyodo news agency, as well as numerous personalities from the music and record industry.

Ryuichi Sakamoto posted a gray image on his Twitter social network profile, where users ventured to offer their condolences for the information on Takahashi’s death, while singer Akiko Yano wrote: “YMO is gone forever”, using the initials of the Yellow Magic Orchestra group.

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