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ZARD Memorial Concert Held at Nippon Budōkan
posted on by Evan Miller
On September 14, the famous Nippon Budōkan concert hall in Tokyo's Marunouchi Ward played host to a memorial concert honoring the late Izumi Sakai, the singer best known as ZARD. Sakai died earlier this May from head injuries sustained when she fell down a stairway at a hospital where she was being treated for cervical cancer. She was 40.
The concert was a combination of previous ZARD concerts and video footage on nine giant screens along with 24 musicians playing live. The concert began with a clip of Sakai saying, "I've always cherished the power of words. I think that it is best to express [that power] through music."
The encore to the concert featured the debut of the single "Glorious Mind," which was recorded in June 2006 as Sakai struggled with her illness. The song, which will be released as a single in the near future, will be featured as the opening theme for the anime series Detective Conan (Case Closed). ZARD performed many of the previous Conan themes, and the anime is often credited as a source of her popularity.
According to organizers, over 13,000 fans attended the concert. Members of the band Garnet Crow and other groups were also in attendance.
Source: Sankei Sports Shimbun
Image © B-Gram RECORDS
