Legendary tabla maestro Zakir Hussain passes away at 73

Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain has passed away at the age of 73 in San Francisco from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an official statement from his family confirmed on Monday. Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain was admitted to the ICU of a San Francisco hospital with heart-related problems, his friend and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia said on Sunday.The 73-year-old US-based musician, who has taken the tabla to the global stage, had been having blood pressure issues, added Hussain's manager Nirmala Bachani. He had been in a San Francisco hospital for the last two weeks.Hussain is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola, his daughters Anisa Qureshi and her family, Isabella Qureshi and her family, his brothers Taufiq and Fazal Qureshi, and his sister Khurshid Aulia.
The Bombay-born eldest son of legendary tabla player Allah Rakha, Zakir Hussain followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a marquee name in India and across the world.The musician has worked with several renowned international and Indian artistes, 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 a fusion hitherto unknown. 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