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Last year, Ryuichi Sakamoto tragically passed away at age 71. Before his death, Fennesz, David Sylvian, Dev Hynes, Cornelius, and more contributed to a tribute album for the legendary Japanese musician, and today Kraftwerk honored him with a cover of his 1983 classic “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” at Fuji Rock in Yuzawa, Japan.
Introducing the song, the band said, “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 Japanense lyrics for me for ‘Radioactivity,’ which we played that show.” As to be expected, their rendition of “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” is incredibly moving — is there a version of that song that isn’t? Watch the performance below.