Kraftwerk pays tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto with cover of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in Japan: Watch

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

During their performance at Japan's Fuji Rock Festival this weekend, Kraftwerk took time to pay tribute to the late, great composer and producer Ryuichi Sakamoto. After classic tracks like “Autobahn” and “Computer World,” the band played a cover of Sakamoto's theme song from the 1993 film “The Last Man.” Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. Check it out below.

Before starting the song, Ralf Hütter of Kraftwerk introduced the cover with the words: “The next composition is by my friend Ryuichi Sakamoto.” The background then changed to a photo of Hütter and Sakamoto. “We have been friends forever since our first concert in Tokyo in 1981,” he continued. “For the No Nuke Festival 2012, Ryuichi wrote a new Japanese text for me for 'Radioactivity', which we will play.”

Sakamoto’s estate recently confirmed a posthumous album by the legendary composer entitled opus. The project will be released on August 9 and will include reinterpreted versions of songs from across his career. In a statement before his death, Sakamoto described the album as “a way to record my performances – when I was still able to perform – in a way that is worth preserving for the future.”

After the performance in Japan, Kraftwerk's next gig is in Dresden – tickets are available here.

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

Kraftwerk pays tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto with cover of “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” in Japan: Watch
Maria Siroky

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