BABYMETAL guitarist Mikio Fujioka (AKA Ko-Gami, ‘The Little God’) has died at the age of 36, after being injured in a fall.
The Japanese musician died on Friday, 5th January, according to his wife, who has taken to Twitter to say that he fell from an astronomical observation platform on 30th December.
Fujioka’s condition allegedly deteriorated in the week following the fall, before he died while surrounded by his family, including his two daughters.
In a statement, BABYMETAL have paid tribute to their late guitarist, saying, “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.”
The tribute also contains lyrics from BABYMETAL’s song ‘The One’, which read:
We are the one
Together
We’re the only one
You are the one
Forever
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 one
Together
We're the only one
You are the one
Forever#RIP #THEONE pic.twitter.com/NMUg3mhmes— BABYMETAL (@BABYMETAL_JAPAN) January 9, 2018
Fujioka had been a member of BABYMETAL’s Kami Band since 2013.
BABYMETAL are yet to perform in Australia, but were hotly rumoured for Soundwave Festival in 2016, before the event went under.
Read the tweets from Fujioka’s wife, below.
訃報のお知らせ
ギタリスト藤岡幹大が平成29年12月30日に天体観測中高所から落ち療養の最中、平成30年1月5日夜容態が急変し娘2人に見守られながら享年36歳で永眠いたしました。— 藤岡幹大(仮) (@mikio158cm) January 9, 2018
ファンの皆様、関係者様、全速力で生きた彼のことを今後も愛して頂けたら幸いです。ありがとうございました。 妻
— 藤岡幹大(仮) (@mikio158cm) January 9, 2018
