Ryuichi Sakamoto battling stage 4 cancer: report

Legendary Japanese composer and electronic/ambient musician Ryuichi Sakamoto has sadly revealed that he is battling stage 4 cancer. The Japan Times reports:

Musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto revealed that he has been battling stage 4 cancer in a monthly magazine released Tuesday.

Sakamoto has made public being diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and rectal cancer in 2021. The 70-year-old Oscar- and Grammy-winning pianist had made no prior announcements about how advanced the cancer was.

Stage 4 means that the cancer has spread to other parts of the body and that the patient’s prognosis is poor.

Sakamoto discussed in detail his cancer diagnosis and how he has been coping with it in an article titled “Living with Cancer,” printed by the literary magazine Shincho.

In it, he revealed that he underwent surgery last October and December to remove cancer that had spread to both lungs.

Sakamoto also added, “Since I have made it this far in life, I hope to be able to make music until my last moment, like Bach and Debussy whom I adore.”

We’re pulling for you, Ryuichi.