Composer and tabla player Zakir Hussain, who’s credited with being pivotal in introducing Indian music to the world, has died. He was 73.
According to The New York Times, Hussain died in San Francisco, where he lived, of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, his family confirmed. Per the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the condition is a progressive chronic lung disease that occurs when lung tissue becomes thick and stiff, making it difficult to breathe.
Born Zakir Allaraka Qureshi on March 9, 1951, in what is now Mumbai, Hussain was the oldest son of legendary tabla player Alla Rakha Qureshi, better known as Ustad Allarakha. (Ustad is an honorific meaning “master.”) The tabla is a traditional Indian instrument, comprised of two drums played by hand, the BBC reported.
Hussain was a child prodigy, playing the tabla around the world by the time he was 12-years-old. His teenage years saw him perform with renowned artists like Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, The New York Times reported. Though his practice was mostly in Hindustani classical tradition, he had an interest in other genres from around the world. It’s that interest that set his career on an extraordinary path.
Along with guitarist John McLaughlin, he co-founded Shakti, a band that combined traditional Indian classical music with jazz and other Western sounds, in 1973. Though the original band members went their separate ways just five years later, the band morphed with new members several times over the years, The Economic Times reported. Shakti took a hiatus in 2014 following the death of member U. Srinivas, reuniting in 2020 with violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan. The new iteration of the group was a success, leading to the group’s historic 2024 Grammy win for Best Global Album. Alongside Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia, Hussain also snagged a Best Global Music Performance Grammy Award for their track “Pashto” at the 2024 ceremony. Hussain also won Grammys in 1991 and 2008 for his collaborations with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.
Hussain worked with some of the world’s most accomplished musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma, George Harrison, Van Morrison and Billy Cobham, the BBC reported. One of his most notable triumphs came in 2009, when he performed four sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
According to The New York Times, per his family, Hussain is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola; daughters Anisa Qureshi and Isabella Qureshi; his brothers and fellow tabla players Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi; and his sister, Khurshid Aulia.
