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lead=yes, legally registered as Ōshima Hisashi since 1956, was a Japanese singer and actor.
He was best known outside Japan for his international hit song "Ue o Muite Arukō" (known as "Sukiyaki" in English-speaking markets), which was sung in Japanese and sold over 13 million copies. It reached number one in the United States Billboard Hot 100 in June 1963, making Sakamoto the first Asian recording artist to have a number one song on the chart. He was also the first Japanese artist to have a number one single on the Australian singles chart.
Sakamoto died on 12 August 1985 in the crash of Japan Air Lines Flight 123, along with 519 others on board the flight, making him a casualty of the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history. Only four people on board survived the crash.
In the summer of 1944, during the air raids over the greater Tokyo area, Kyu's mother took her three children to live with their maternal grandparents in rural Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture. They moved back to Kawasaki in 1949. Their father's company had been closed by the American occupation forces and he opened a restaurant.A biography , made-for-TV movie, TV Tokyo, 2005
For a short period of time, Sakamoto returned to his studies and focused on entering university. By December 1958, he joined his classmate's Hisahiko Iida's band called Danny Iida and Paradise King. He replaced Hiroshi Mizuhara as singer. Sakamoto's career began to rise to expectations, where he ended his studies and left school. In June 1959, the band got a record deal at the JVC record company. The Paradise King and Sakamoto released their song "Kanashiki Rokujissai" in August 1960, which became a great hit. In the time after they released a number of songs that became very popular. This led to Sakamoto obtaining a record deal at the Toshiba Records company and left the Paradise King aiming at a solo career.
His international breakthrough came in 1963 during a visit to Japan by Louis Benjamin, an executive of British record company Pye Records. Hearing the song several times, Benjamin decided to bring it back to England. Due to concerns that the title would be too hard for English-speakers to pronounce or remember, the song was renamed "Sukiyaki", after the Japanese cooked beef dish familiar to the English. The new title was intended to sound both catchy and distinctive in Japanese, but other than the language, it had no actual connection to the song.
Initially, Pye Records released an instrumental version of the song recorded by Kenny Ball. After that became a hit in England, His Master's Voice released the original, which also sold well, reaching sixth place in the label's most sold records. In 1963, Capitol Records released the song in the US with the alternate title, eventually selling over one million copies, and remaining number one on the Billboard Hot 100 number one single for three weeks in June 1963.
After the international success of "Ue o Muite Arukō", Sakamoto went on a world tour that lasted from summer of 1963 to the beginning of 1964. Among the countries he visited were the United States (including Hawaii), Germany, and Sweden. During his time in the U.S., he was invited to appear in several television shows. On 13 August 1963, he landed at Los Angeles International Airport and that evening, was a guest of television program The Steve Allen Show. Sakamoto was also expected to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, but his appearance was canceled owing to a scheduling conflict with the production of his upcoming movie, Kyu-chan Katana o Nuite.
Sakamoto had only one other song reach the U.S. charts, "China Nights (Shina no Yoru)" (Capitol 5016), which peaked at number 58 in 1963. His only American album, Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits (Capitol 10349), peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart (now known as the Billboard 200) in 1963 and remained on the Pop Albums chart for 17 weeks.
He received his sole foreign Gold Record of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by Capitol Records on 15 May 1964 in Hotel Okura, Tokyo.
In 1968, Sakamoto and Hachidai Nakamura participated in the Festival Internacional da Canção in Rio de Janeiro with the song "Sayonara, Sayonara" and finished in 7th place.
"Ue o Muite Arukō" has been cover version multiple times over the years, beginning with the instrumental by Kenny Ball. "Ue o Muite Arukō" was also covered as an instrumental, by English pianist Johnny Pearson, during 1982. Well-known English-language cover versions include a 1981 cover by A Taste of Honey and a 1995 cover by 4 P.M., both of which made the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. In 1989, Selena self-titled album contained a Spanish translation of the Taste of Honey cover which was released as a single in 1990. The English lyrics have also appeared in whole or in part in songs by performers including Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh (1985's "La Di Da Di"), Jun 15, 1963: Kyu Sakamoto tops the charts with "Sukiyaki", History.com Salt-N-Pepa (1985's "The Show Stopper"), Snoop Dogg (1993's "Lodi Dodi", a "La Di Da Di" cover), Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (1995's Bless Da 40 Oz.), Raphael Saadiq (1995's "Ask of You", another to make the Hot 100), Mary J. Blige (1997's "Everything") and Will Smith (1999's "So Fresh", featuring Slick Rick).
An American version by Jewel Akens with different English lyrics was written for it. Titled "My First Lonely Night (Sukiyaki)" in 1966, the song reached number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100.
On 16 March 1999, Japan Post issued a stamp commemorating Sakamoto and "Ue o Muite Arukō".
On 15 October 2020, Google celebrated his song "Ue o Muite Aruko" and Sakamoto with a Google Doodle.
The song also played during the closing ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
| 1963 | "Sukiyaki" | 1 | 1 | 18 | 6 | Capitol Records | "Anoko No Namaewa Nantenkana" | Sukiyaki and Other Japanese Hits |
| "China Nights (Shina No Yoru)" | 58 | 19 | — | — | "Tsun Tsun Bushi (The Tsun Tsun Song)" | |||
| "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o" | — | — | — | — | "Benkyo No Cha Cha Cha" | |||
| 1964 | "The Olympics Song" | — | — | — | — | "Tankobushi" | ||
| "Sayonara Tokyo" | — | — | — | — | "I Like You (Kimiga Suki)" | |||
| 1986 | "Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o" (re-release) | — | — | — | — | "Benkyo No Cha Cha Cha" | ||
| "Sayonara Tokyo" (re-release) | — | — | — | — | "I Like You (Kimiga Suki)" | |||
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