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Atsushi Sakurai - Rest in Peace
Oct. 24th, 2023 12:48 pmToday, it was announced that the lead vocalist of Japanese rock band BUCK-TICK, Atsushi Sakurai, has passed away at the age of 57.
When I first heard the news, I couldn't believe it. I have been a casual fan of BUCK-TICK for over a year or two, but only recently have I really gotten into their music. I really resonated with what I heard despite the language barrier, and watching translated interviews with Sakurai-san made me really fall in love with both him and the band very quickly.
Atsushi resonated with me a lot, with his words, and his demeanour. I could see myself in him somehow. He was quiet, and he seemed very kind and accepting. His bandmates had said so as well.
Even when I don't know Japanese, his lyrics made me feel a wide range of emotions from his vocals alone. I would often find myself getting physical chills from watching performances on YouTube, or feeling myself begin to cry after reading fan translations of the lyrics while hearing the songs.
The first performance of theirs I ever watched was "KISS ME GOOD-BYE" from their 1994 Climax Together concert.
This performance might just be my all time favourite of theirs. I remember the first time I watched this, I got chills all over my body multiple times and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, and especially Atsushi Sakurai. He has an amazing talent for performing, and I will always admire his stage presence. If I were ever to be a performer some day, I would look to him for inspiration.
I would always find myself coming back to this performance whenever I was feeling sad, but today I can't watch it without crying. I have been crying from the moment I learned of his passing when I woke up this morning.
I can't even begin to imagine how his family, friends, and how the other members of BUCK-TICK must be feeling. He seemed like such a sweet soul. I have only been a big fan of theirs for about a month or so, and this news has rocked me to my core. I felt numb, and I still feel numb.
I wish to honour him somehow, so writing this is a good start, writing about how Atsushi Sakurai and BUCK-TICK has had such an impact on my life in such a short time.
I wish to paint a portrait of him in the near future.
I would like to share a few of my favourite picture of him as well.
One thing that keeps coming back to me is when he said that "It's okay to run away."
I have never heard anyone say that. People always say that you should never run away, that you should always face your fears or your shortcomings head on, no matter how scary or daunting it is. But he said that it was okay to run away. I think that is really refreshing for me, because I would always feel really horrible whenever I would avoid or run away from something that scared me. If something didn't feel right, and I decided it wouldn't feel right for me to face it, I would feel selfish or cowardly, but hearing him say that, it made me feel better about myself. You can hear him talk about it in his interview.
Even just rewatching that is making me cry. I am going to miss him so much. I can't even imagine how the people attending this past concert are feeling. I am glad that he spent some of his last moments performing, doing what he has enjoyed doing for the past 36 years. This was all so sudden, it doesn't feel real.
I don't want to stop writing, I feel like if I post this, it will be a true acknowledgement that he really is gone. I wish this was just some horrible dream, and that I will wake up soon, but it's not. I am already awake.
My heart goes out to all of his family, friends, the people he worked with, the people who's lives he has had an impact on, and the remaining members of BUCK-TICK.
May his memory live on forever.
When I first heard the news, I couldn't believe it. I have been a casual fan of BUCK-TICK for over a year or two, but only recently have I really gotten into their music. I really resonated with what I heard despite the language barrier, and watching translated interviews with Sakurai-san made me really fall in love with both him and the band very quickly.
Atsushi resonated with me a lot, with his words, and his demeanour. I could see myself in him somehow. He was quiet, and he seemed very kind and accepting. His bandmates had said so as well.
Even when I don't know Japanese, his lyrics made me feel a wide range of emotions from his vocals alone. I would often find myself getting physical chills from watching performances on YouTube, or feeling myself begin to cry after reading fan translations of the lyrics while hearing the songs.
The first performance of theirs I ever watched was "KISS ME GOOD-BYE" from their 1994 Climax Together concert.
This performance might just be my all time favourite of theirs. I remember the first time I watched this, I got chills all over my body multiple times and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, and especially Atsushi Sakurai. He has an amazing talent for performing, and I will always admire his stage presence. If I were ever to be a performer some day, I would look to him for inspiration.
I would always find myself coming back to this performance whenever I was feeling sad, but today I can't watch it without crying. I have been crying from the moment I learned of his passing when I woke up this morning.
I can't even begin to imagine how his family, friends, and how the other members of BUCK-TICK must be feeling. He seemed like such a sweet soul. I have only been a big fan of theirs for about a month or so, and this news has rocked me to my core. I felt numb, and I still feel numb.
I wish to honour him somehow, so writing this is a good start, writing about how Atsushi Sakurai and BUCK-TICK has had such an impact on my life in such a short time.
I wish to paint a portrait of him in the near future.
I would like to share a few of my favourite picture of him as well.
I have never heard anyone say that. People always say that you should never run away, that you should always face your fears or your shortcomings head on, no matter how scary or daunting it is. But he said that it was okay to run away. I think that is really refreshing for me, because I would always feel really horrible whenever I would avoid or run away from something that scared me. If something didn't feel right, and I decided it wouldn't feel right for me to face it, I would feel selfish or cowardly, but hearing him say that, it made me feel better about myself. You can hear him talk about it in his interview.
Even just rewatching that is making me cry. I am going to miss him so much. I can't even imagine how the people attending this past concert are feeling. I am glad that he spent some of his last moments performing, doing what he has enjoyed doing for the past 36 years. This was all so sudden, it doesn't feel real.
I don't want to stop writing, I feel like if I post this, it will be a true acknowledgement that he really is gone. I wish this was just some horrible dream, and that I will wake up soon, but it's not. I am already awake.
My heart goes out to all of his family, friends, the people he worked with, the people who's lives he has had an impact on, and the remaining members of BUCK-TICK.
May his memory live on forever.
