Legendary Tabla Maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain Passes Away at 73 in San Francisco

SAN FRANSISCO - Renowned tabla maestro and composer Zakir Hussain passed away on Sunday, December 15, 2024, at the age of 73 in San Francisco. Son of the iconic tabla maestro Ustad Allah Rakha, the 73-year-old legendary musician was admitted in ICU due to heart and lung-related ailments for the last two weeks.

Hussain's recent concerts were also called off due to his ill health. Earlier, a source close to the family had told media, "He was admitted to a hospital in San Francisco two weeks ago after facing heart and lung-related issues. His condition is very critical and doctors are not very hopeful. His entire family from India has flown to the US to be with him."

Considered as one of the greatest tabla players, Zakir Hussain had received four Grammy Awards out of his seven nominations. His first Grammy win came in the year 2009 when he won in the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, & Giovanni Hidalgo.

Earlier this year in 2024, the tabla maestro won three Grammys. He won in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category for his album As We Speak, for which he had collaborated with Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Rakesh Chaurasia. The four of them also won the Best Global Music Performance award for Pashto. Zakir's third win was for Best Global Music Album for This Moment, which had made with his fusion band Shakti consisting of guitarist John McLaughlin, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram.

 Zakir Hussain was awarded India's second highest civillian honour Padma Vibhushan in 2023. He was earlier bestowed with Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Bhushan in 2003. He was also awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990 and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, also known as Akademi Ratna Sadasyata, in 2018.