Mikio Fujioka, 36-year old guitarist in Kami Band, who back Japanese pop-metal phenomenon Babymetal, has tragically died.
The group's Twitter account announced the news on Tuesday, and his wife tweeted from his official account revealing that he'd fallen from an observation deck on December 30, before passing away on January 5.
His wife tweeted “We are fortunate to have fans and people concerned. I hope you will continue to love him. Thank you.”
The “Little” Guitar Kami of #BABYMETAL ‘s #Kamiband has passed away in the METAL GALAXIES. We hope that he is now with his GUITAR MASTER A.Holdsworth and enjoying an epic guitar session with him. We are the oneTogetherWe're the only oneYou are the oneForever#RIP #THEONE pic.twitter.com/NMUg3mhmesJanuary 9, 2018
As well as performing and touring with Babymetal and Kami Band, Fujiuoka taught at a music college and had published 10 guitar textbooks. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
“Guitar players have been sleeping on wah for the last two decades!”: Cory Wong teams up with Hotone Audio for the Wong Press, a 3-in-1 volume, expression and wah pedal
“I didn’t realise how diverse, eclectic and innovative my guitar collection was ”: Steve Vai’s monster guitar collection to be documented in epic upcoming book – and there’s a $25,350 Ultra Edition that includes a super limited edition Ibanez JEM
