He co-founded the Yellow Magic Orchestra with Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Influential musician, drummer, vocalist, and Yellow Magic Orchestra co-founder Yukihiro Takahashi has died. As reported by The Japan Times, the artist had undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor in August 2020, and was suffering from additional health problems. Ultimately, he caught pneumonia in early January, which made his condition worsen. Takahashi was 70 years old.
Yukihiro Takahashi, born on June 6th, 1952, was interested in music thanks to his older brother, Nobuyuki. By 16, Takahashi started working professionally as a studio musician, recording drum parts for TV commercials and had his first experiences with bands. Being a drummer, dance music from the U.S. was “a huge influence” at that time.
Following the dissolution of the Sadistic Mika Band, Takahashi contacted Ryuichi Sakamoto to produce ‘Saravah!’, his debut solo album. In 1977, the two were hired by Haruomi Hosono to record on his own album, ‘Paraiso’, which in the end was credited to “Harry Hosono and the Yellow Magic Band”. In 1978 all three musicians came together as the Yellow Magic Orchestra.
The band released their debut self-titled album upon forming, and its implementation of synths, computer technology, and video game samples was considered unique, harvesting both nationwide and international interest in the band. Since then, the Yellow Magic Orchestra has sold over 250,000 copies in Japan, entering both the Billboard 200 and Billboard R&B Albums charts.
Watch Yellow Magic Orchestra’s ‘Rydeen’ video below.
