Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain, A Legend In World Of Music, Dies At 73

Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, who was battling heart-related problems, died in a US hospital today. He was 73.

His manager, Nirmala Bachani, said he was admitted to a hospital in San Francisco.

“Zakir Hussain, the inimitable North Indian tabla player, espouses a misunderstood strain of virtuosity. He is a fearsome technician, but also a whimsical inventor, dedicated to exuberant play. So he rarely seems overbearing, even when the blurring of his fingers rival the beat of a hummingbird’s wings,” wrote the New York Times about the artist when he performed at Carnegie Hall in 2009.

The Bombay-born eldest son of legendary tabla player Allah Rakha, Zakir Hussain followed in his father’s footsteps and became a marquee name in India and across the world.

After telling the story of his first booking, the percussionist said a letter arrived at their house offering a concert date to his father. Zakir wrote back saying that his father would not be able to accept the engagement but that his son was available. However, he did not mention in the letter that he was only 13. It worked and his musical career was underway.

As the news spread, tributes poured in from executives, industrialists, musicians from around the world.

Minister Nitin Gadkari described the artist’s death as an “irreparable loss to the country’s art and music sector”.

“The news of the death of renowned tabla player Padma Vibhushan Ustad Zakir Hussain is extremely sad. My heartfelt tributes to him. His demise is an irreparable loss to the arts and music sector of the country. His contribution in the field of art is unprecedented. His dedication to his art and his contribution will always be remembered, may God give peace to the departed soul and strength to the family and fans Mr Gadkari wrote on X.

“Zakir Hussain Ji’s tabla spoke a universal language that transcends borders, cultures and generations,” Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

Industrialist Anand Mahindra wrote: “Rhythm in India paused today”. He posted a video of a jugalbandi between the tabla player and late singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, said the tabla player’s “beats will echo forever”.

“The world falls silent as tabla loses its maestro. Ustad Zakir Hussain, a rhythmic genius who brought India’s soul to global stages, has left us. I was privileged to know him through his association with HMV and to hear him perform at our home, his beats will echo forever,” wrote Mr. Goenka at X with a clip of the artist in action.

A recipient of many awards, he received five Grammy Awards in his career, including three at the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year.

In a career spanning six decades, the musician worked with several acclaimed international and Indian artists, but it was his 1973 musical project with English guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist L Shankar and percussionist TH ‘Vikku’ Vinayakram that brought together Indian classical and elements of jazz in an unprecedented merger.

The percussionist, one of India’s most celebrated classical musicians, received the Padma Shri in 1988, the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2023.