​Kraftwerk sings “Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence” in honor of Ryuichi Sakamoto – News

Kraftwerk honored the late Ryuichi Sakamoto with a cover version of his famous song “Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence” from 1983.

The group performed a tribute over the weekend during their headlining performance on Saturday, July 27, at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, Sakamoto's home country.

Before Kraftwerk paid tribute to the late composer and musician, the company announced: “The next composition is for my friend Ryuichi Sakamoto. We are friends forever.”

“Since our first Kraftwerk concert in Tokyo in 1981 and for the No Nukes festival in 2012, Sakamoto wrote new Japanese lyrics for me for 'Radioactivity', which we played at that show.”

Kraftwerk then played an emotional instrumental version of the classic, a rare cover from the groundbreaking German group. Listen to it below.

“Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence” was composed for the 1983 film of the same name, in which Sakamoto himself played the leading roles alongside artists such as David Bowie and Tom Conti.

Sakamoto composed the film music, which is based on the true experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post as a prisoner of war in Java during World War II.

Sakamoto's final posthumous album, titled “Opus,” is scheduled to be released next month. The record contains a collection of works performed by the late Japanese composer at his last concert in 2022 before his death in April 2023.

The 20-track record contains compositions from Sakamoto's very last performance at his legendary NHK 509 studio in Tokyo, performed in several sessions without an audience and filmed by his son Neo Sora.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's deputy editor. Follow her on Þjórsárdalur