Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain passes away at 73, confirms family

Grammy Award-winning Indian musician Zakir Hussain died in San Francisco on Sunday night, his family said.

The 73-year-old tabla maestro had been in a hospital due to complications from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease, according to his family.

At the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year, Hussain had won three awards, to add to his previous two wins.

"It was a great day for India at the Grammys and I'm proud to be carrying the national flag," he posted on Instagram after his win.

He is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola, his daughters, Anisa and Isabella Qureshi.

The making of a maestro

Born in Mumbai in 1951, Hussain was the eldest son of renowned tabla player Ustad Alla Rakha.

Hussain earned global acclaim as one of the greatest tabla players of his generation during a career spanning over six decades.

His legacy includes collaborations with Indian legends like Ravi Shankar and Shivkumar Sharma, as well as global icons such as Yo-Yo Ma, Bela Fleck, and George Harrison.

In 1973, his groundbreaking collaboration with musicians John McLaughlin, L Shankar, and TH 'Vikku' Vinayakram introduced the world to a fusion of Indian classical and jazz.

Through these partnerships, he brought Indian classical music to a global audience.

In India, the maestro was a recipient of some of the country's highest civilian accolades, including the Padma Shri (1988), Padma Bhushan (2002), and Padma Vibhushan (2023).