Zakir Hussain, one of the world’s most celebrated tabla players and a prominent figure in Indian classical music, has died at the age of 73. His family announced the news of his demise said that the maestro succumbed to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease at a San Francisco hospital on Sunday.
Hussain’s passing marks the end of an era for Indian classical music. A four-time Grammy winner and recipient of the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor, Hussain revolutionized the role of the tabla, transforming it from a traditional accompanying instrument into a globally revered solo act.
Born in Mumbai in 1951, Hussain’s journey into music began under the shadow of his father, Ustad Allarakha Khan, himself a tabla legend. “From the age of seven, I sat on the stage with Abba whilst he played with so many greats. It was a lived experience for me, and it allowed me to absorb all that I had heard over the years,” Hussain recounted in 2018 to his biographer, Nasreen Munni Kabir. By his teenage years, he was performing alongside legends like Pandit Ravi Shankar and, at just 19, was gracing more than 150 stages annually across India and the globe.
Tributes poured in from all corners of the world as news of Hussain’s death broke. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described him as “a true genius who revolutionised the world of Indian classical music.” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi echoed similar sentiments, calling it “a great loss for the music world.” The US Embassy in India honored him as “a true maestro” who would be “forever in our hearts.”
Fellow musicians and collaborators also remembered the icon. Nayan Ghosh, a sitar and tabla player whose association with Hussain spanned six decades, called the news “devastating.” “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,” Ghosh said.
Grammy-winning composer Ricky Kej hailed Hussain as “one of the greatest musicians and personalities India has ever produced.”
Over the course of his illustrious career, Hussain collaborated with musical giants including Beatles guitarist George Harrison, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and drummer Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. His landmark album Planet Drum, a collaboration with Hart, won the first-ever Grammy for Best World Music Album in 1992. His artistry was celebrated globally, with The New York Times once describing him as “a fearsome technician but also a whimsical inventor,” marveling at his dexterity: “he rarely seems overbearing, even when the blur of his fingers rival the beat of a hummingbird’s wings.”
Reflecting on his global acclaim, Hussain humbly attributed his success to music itself. “This is music’s appeal, not mine. I am a worshipper of music, who presents it in front of people,” he told the BBC in 2016.
Hussain’s biographer Nasreen Munni Kabir noted his dual legacy as both a brilliant soloist and a sought-after accompanist for the finest Hindustani classical musicians and dancers. In his later years, Hussain acknowledged his role as part of a transformative moment in the music world. “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 once said. “I had the good fortune of establishing a very unhurried relationship with music, and at the same time, the wave took me places.”
Zakir Hussain’s unparalleled contributions leave an indelible mark on global music, ensuring his legacy will echo across generations.
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