News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 16th December 2024
Zakir Hussain, one of the world’s best tabla musicians, passed away at the age of 73. The Indian classical music superstar died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung condition, at a hospital in San Francisco, according to his family statement.Hussain won four Grammy Awards and was awarded India’s second-highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. Through his concerts, he made the tabla into an internationally popular solo instrument that stole the stage. The tabla, a pair of drums used in Indian classical music, was traditionally considered an accompaniment to the main performance.
As word of Hussain’s death spread, condolences began to flood in. Nayan Ghosh, a sitar and tabla player, described the news as “devastating” and claimed he had known Hussain for 60 years, dating back to their infancy. “He was a pathbreaker, a game-changer, an icon who put tabla and Indian music on the world map by transcending the boundaries of genre and inspiring generations of artistes,” he confided to the BBC. English guitarist John McLaughlin, who played with Hussain in the band Shakti, referred to him as “the King, in whose hands, rhythm became magic”. Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej described him as “one of the greatest musicians and personalities India has ever produced”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “a true genius who revolutionised the world of Indian classical music”.
Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi said Hussain’s death was “a great loss for the music world”, while the US embassy in India said he was a “true maestro” and would be “forever in our hearts”.
Hussain was born in Mumbai in 1951 and began learning the tabla from his father, Ustad Allarakha Khan, who is also a tabla master. Hussain describes growing up in a “music-filled atmosphere 24 hours a day.” By the age of seven, he started performing in concerts with his father. “From the age of seven, I sat on stage with Abba as he performed alongside so many greats. It was a lived experience for me, and it allowed me to assimilate all I’d learned over the years,” he told his biographer, Nasreen Munni Kabir, in 2018. As a teenager, he had the opportunity to perform alongside the great Indian sitarist and composer Pandit Ravi Shankar. By the age of 19, he was performing over 150 concerts each year, both in India and throughout the world.
As his reputation expanded, he contributed to the soundtracks of various films, performed solo, and worked with musicians on a global scale. His 1992 album Planet Drum, which included percussionist Mickey Hart, received a Grammy in the inaugural category of “Best World Music Album”. He has also worked with notable musicians like as George Harrison of the Beatles, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Van Morrison. Hussain went on to get seven Grammy nominations and won four of them. In 2016, when asked about his global success, he said “This is the charm of music, not mine. I am a music worshipper who performs in front of others.
He used his star status to push younger Indian musicians on to the global stage, she said. “Because of him younger people were willing to pay 2,000 to 3,000 rupees ($23.59 to $35.38; £18.62 to £27.93) for a ticket which is very unusual for classical performances.” Hussain had previously spoken of his own “good fortune” when it came to his musical career. “I am one of those musicians who came at the cusp of a great change in the music world and I was carried on that wave,” he explained. “I had the good fortune of establishing a very unhurried relationship with music, and at the same time, the wave took me places.”
