Babymetal touring guitarist Mikio ‘Ko-Gami’ Fujioka has died at age 36.

Fujioka was one of Babymetal's longtime lead guitarists. Performing his first show with the Japanese pop metal phenoms in 2013, Fujioka was onstage for Babymetal's biggest shows as they continued to grow as a headlining act. His shredding ability was extremely clean and impressive, as can be seen in clips from events like Sonisphere 2014 and Babymetal's gigantic Tokyo Dome shows.

 

Babymetal broke the news of Fujioka's death via Facebook earlier today (Jan. 9):

According to Metro.co.uk, reports claim the guitarist fell from some sort of observation deck on Dec. 30. After his condition "rapidly deteriorated," Fujioka reportedly died on Jan. 5.

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