Yukihiro Takahashi (June 6, 1952 – January 11, 2023) was a Japanese singer and drummer best known as the lead vocalist of the synth-pop supergroup Yellow Magic Orchestra, in which he was joined by fellow established artists Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Takahashi was known as the group’s glue, keeping the trio together despite Hosono and Sakamoto’s self-confessed competitiveness and creative differences.

In addition to his work with YMO, Takahashi was also previously the drummer for the Sadistic Mika Band and carved out a prolific solo career in his own right, releasing studio albums under his own name for a solid 40 years.

In between this, Takahashi would collaborate with numerous Japanese and Western musicians such as Moonriders member and video game composer Keiichi Suzuki, Japan drummer Steve Jansen, and Be-Bop Deluxe frontman Bill Nelson. Takahashi, Hosono, and Sakamoto would also all contribute to one another’s projects. Like his YMO bandmates, Takahashi would also find work scoring and acting in films and TV shows.

In the 21st century, Takahashi would establish two brief side projects: Sketch Show, a glitch pop group with Hosono, and METAFIVE, a second supergroup featuring multiple Japanese artists who were active during the 1990s.

In 2023, Takahashi died at the age of 70 from aspiration pneumonia as a complication of brain cancer, which he had been battling for nearly three years.

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