"YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra)" was formed in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, the late Ryuichi Sakamoto, and the late Yukihiro Takahashi. It has been revealed that the tribute concert "MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN A Tribute to YMO - SYMBOL OF MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025-" held in Kyoto City on May 20th to pay respect to YMO will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW on July 13th.
Utilizing cutting-edge technology, YMO popularized the use of synthesizers and computers in music production, replacing the analog instruments that had been mainstream until then, and sparked a technopop boom not only in Japan but on a global scale.
This tribute concert was held at the National Kyoto International Conference Center (Sakyo-ku, Kyoto) to celebrate the achievements of YMO, who were selected as this year's symbolic artists for the MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN 2025 (MAJ), the country's largest international music awards, ahead of the awards ceremony to be held at the ROHM Theatre Kyoto (Sakyo-ku, Kyoto) on May 21st and 22nd.
The concert featured guests who openly stated that they were influenced by YMO, including Matsutake Hideki, known as the "fourth man of YMO," as well as Okamura Yasuyuki, Miu Sakamoto Miu, Yamaguchi Ichiro of the band Sakanaction, Tei Towa, and the music unit Ginger Root.
The concert, titled "MUSIC AWARDS JAPAN - A Tribute to YMO," will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Live and WOWOW On Demand from 5pm on July 13th. After the broadcast and stream ends, it will be available to watch in the archive for 30 days.
