Kraftwerk Pay Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto with Cover of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in Japan: Watch

The post Kraftwerk Pay Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto with Cover of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in Japan: Watch appeared first on Consequence .

During their set at Japan’s Fuji Rock festival this weekend, Kraftwerk carved out time to honor the late, great composer and producer Ryuichi Sakamoto . After delivering classic tracks like “Autobahn” and “Computer World,” the band performed a cover of Sakamoto’s theme from the 1993 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence . Watch it below.

Before beginning the song, Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter introduced the cover by saying, “The next composition is by my friend, Ryuichi Sakamoto.” The backdrop then transitioned to a photo of Hütter and Sakamoto. “We are friends forever since our first concert in Tokyo in 1981,” he continued. “For the No Nuke Festival in 2012, Ryuichi wrote new Japanese lyrics for me for ‘Radioactivity,’ which we will play.”

Sakamoto’s estate recently confirmed a posthumous album from the legendary composer titled Opus . The project will arrive on August 9th and is set to include reimagined versions of songs from throughout his career. In a statement prior to his passing, Sakamoto described the album as “a way to record my performances — while I was still able to perform — in a way that is worth preserving for the future.”

Following the set in Japan, Kraftwerk are next scheduled to perform in Dresden, Germany — secure tickets here .

Watch the performance of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” followed by “Geiger Counter” and “Radioactive,” below.

Kraftwerk Pay Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto with Cover of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in Japan: Watch
Mary Siroky