Grammy Award-winning Indian musician Zakir Hussain died in San Francisco on Sunday night, his family said.
According to his family, the 73-year-old tabla player was in the hospital due to complications from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease.
At the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year, Hussain won three awards, adding to his two previous wins.
“It was a great day for India at the Grammys and I’m proud to carry the national flag,” she posted on Instagram after her win.
He is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola, and their daughters, Anissa and Isabella Qureshi.
creation of maestro
Born in Mumbai in 1951, Hussain was the eldest son of renowned tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha.
Hussain earned global acclaim as one of the greatest tabla players of his generation during a career spanning more than six decades.
His legacy includes collaborations with Indian stalwarts such as Ravi Shankar and Shivkumar Sharma, as well as global icons such as Yo-Yo Ma, Bela Fleck and George Harrison.
In 1973, his ground-breaking collaboration with composers John McLaughlin, L Shankar and TH ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram introduced the world to the fusion of Indian classical and jazz.
Through these partnerships, he brought Indian classical music to a global audience.
In India, Ustad has received some of the country’s highest civilian honours, including the Padma Shri (1988), Padma Bhushan (2002), and Padma Vibhushan (2023).
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru