Throughout his career, Zakir Hussain has worked with many famous names.
New Delhi:
The music world is mourning the loss of Ustad Zakir Hussain, widely considered one of the greatest and most influential tabla players of all time.
The legendary musician died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease. The news was confirmed by Jon Bleicher of Prospect PR, representing the family.
From celebrities to cabinet ministers, tributes poured in to honor the tabla maestro. Rajya Sabha member Sudha Murty expressed her deep sadness over his death and praised him for introducing tabla to Western audiences.
“The news of Zakir Hussain’s death causes me great pain. He introduced the beauty of the tabla to the Western world. He was a good person and I knew him personally. It is a big loss for India and the music world,” he told Sudha Murty while talking to ANI.
The death of Ustad Zakir Hussain marks the end of an era in world music. His extraordinary career, spanning nearly six decades, transformed the tabla from a supporting instrument of Indian classical music to a leading voice on the global stage.
Known for his virtuosity and emotional expression, Hussain was not only an artist but also a cultural ambassador who bridged the gap between traditional Indian rhythms and global music genres.
Zakir Hussain was born on March 9, 1951 in Mumbai to the legendary tabla master Ustad Alla Rakha. At a young age he showed an extraordinary talent for the tabla, which was recognized early on. As a teenager, he began performing with some of India's greatest classical musicians.
Throughout his illustrious career, Ustad Zakir Hussain has worked with some of the most famous names in Indian and international music. He worked with legends such as Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan and played a crucial role in the formation of international fusion bands such as Shakti with guitarist John McLaughlin and Planet Drum with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead.
His collaboration on the album “Planet Drum” earned him a Grammy Award, one of many honors in his distinguished career.
Zakir Hussain's contributions to music have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Padma Shri (1988) and the Padma Bhushan (2002) from the Government of India, as well as four Grammy Awards.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
