Boom Boom Satellites’ singer and guitarist Michiyuki Kawashima passed away early morning on Oct. 9 after his continued battle with brain tumors. He was 47.
Fans know the electronic Japanese band for composing theme songs for anime series and movies, including Appleseed, Bounen no Xamdou, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and Ninja Slayer From Animation. Their music has also been featured in The Dark Knight and some commercials. The group toured with Moby in the United States and in the late 90s, and kicked off a North American tour with a performance at New York Comic Con in late 2010.
Boom Boom Satellites’ most recent song, Kisnaiver opening Lay Your Hands on Me, released earlier this year in June.
The song is included on the band’s 10th album. Following the album’s release announcement, Masayuki Nakano, the bassist and programmer of the duo, noted it would be Boom Boom Satellites’ final song due to Kawashima’s fourth brain tumor relapse. He detailed that the singer suffered from partial paralysis and would spend the last of his days peacefully with his family.
Boom Boom Satellites’ official website and Facebook page announced Kawashima’s passing Tuesday morning. Nakano commented, translated into English:
“At 5:12am on October 9th, BOOM BOOM SATELLITES’s vocalist Michiyuki Kawashima set off on the next stage of his journey.
I imagine he is soaring around the world, finally freed from the restrictions of his body. His passing is not a tragedy, but the achievement of a lifetime goal and a happy ending. The love of our many fans supported Michiyuki Kawashima and BOOM BOOM SATELLITES on their journey, and we are truly happy and lucky because of you.
On behalf of Michiyuki Kawashima, I would like to thank all our fans and colleagues again.
Thank you for supporting us up until now. Live your lives with passion and energy and keep the music we made, the time we spent together, and the memories we shared close to you.”
One more thing, we are BOOM BOOM SATELLITES!!”