Overview

• Sugawara died of pneumonia on September 11 at 4:34 p.m. in a Tokyo hospital, according to Nishinippon.
• A private funeral was held, with his wife Keiko serving as chief mourner.
• The Tokyo-born elder brother sang and played double bass in Billy BanBan, debuting in 1969 with "Shiroi Buranko."
• The duo scored a 1972 hit with "Sayonara o Suru Tame ni," appeared on NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen, and long provided music for iichiko ads.
• After a 2014 stroke left partial paralysis, he returned to performing and recorded the 2022 Doraemon film insert song "Kokoro Arigatō" with Susumu, who thanked fans in his statement.