Tabla legend Zakir Hussain critical: “Pray for him,” says family

Zakir Hussain, the incomparable tabla player and multiple Grammy winner, is critical in a US hospital with severe heart problems, his family said Sunday.

His manager Nirmala Bachani told the artist he had been in a hospital in San Francisco for two weeks.

“My brother is currently seriously ill. We request all his fans in India and around the world to pray for him and for his health. But as India’s largest exporter ever, don’t finish him off just yet.” Zakir Hussain’s sister Khurshid Aulia told news agency PTI, among multiple reports, that her brother had died.

“I would just like to request all media outlets not to follow the false information about Zakir’s death. His breathing is very, very critical at the moment, but he is still with us. He hasn’t left yet. So I will ask (the media) not to spread this rumor by writing or saying that he died. I am so sorry to see all this information on Facebook, which is very wrong,” she added.

“He is not doing well and is currently in intensive care. We are all worried about the situation,” Zakir Hussain’s friend and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia also told the news agency.

Union ministers, chief ministers and others posted their tributes to the tabla maestro on X amid news of his death, although there was no official statement from Zakir Hussain’s family.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which reported the artist’s death, later deleted his post on X.

“I am the nephew of Zakir Hussain and he is not deceased. We ask for prayers for my uncle’s health. Can you please remove this misinformation? He is in a serious condition and we ask all his fans around the world to pray for his health,” said Ameer Aulia on X.

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

“Zakir Hussain, the incomparable North Indian tabla player, prefers a mischievous brand of virtuosity. He’s a fearsome technician, but also a quirky inventor dedicated to exuberant gaming. That’s why he rarely seems pretentious, even when the fuzziness of his fingers keeps up with the beat of.” “The wings of a hummingbird,” the New York Times wrote about the artist when he performed at Carnegie Hall in 2009.

Recounting the story of his first booking, the drummer said a letter arrived at their home offering his father a concert date. Zakir wrote back and said his father could not accept the engagement but his son was available. However, he did not mention in the letter that he was only 13 years old. It worked and his musical career took off.

The musician has collaborated with several renowned international and Indian artists, but it was his 1973 musical project with English guitarist John McLaughlin, violinist L Shankar and drummer TH “Vikku” Vinayakram that combined Indian classical and elements of jazz in one a previously unknown merger.

The drummer, 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.