The legendary German group paid tribute to the late Japanese composer during a headlining set at Fuji Rock Festival.

Kraftwerk performed a rare cover during their headlining set at Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival on July 27th: “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto.
 
Before diving into an instrumental version of the 1983 track, Kraftwerk’s Ralf Hütter shared a few words on the late composer. Sakamoto, who wrote “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” for a film of the same name, died in March 2023.
 
“The next composition is by my friend, Ryuichi Sakamoto,” Hütter shared. “We are friends forever. Since our first Kraftwerk concert in Tokyo in 1981. For the No Nukes festival in 2012, Sakamoto wrote new Japanese lyrics for me for ‘Radioactivity’, which we played that show.”
 
Sakamoto, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2014, could not play publicly in the last years of his life. A concert film documenting his final performance, Opus, premiered at Venice Film Festival in September 2023.
 
Check out Kraftwerk’s full performance below.
 
Artist: Kraftwerk