Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain was admitted to intensive care in San Francisco

A file image of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain | Photo credit: Special agreement

Tabla master Zakir Hussain has been admitted to the intensive care unit of a San Francisco hospital after suffering heart problems, his friend and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia said on Sunday (December 15, 2024).

The 73-year-old US-based musician, who brought the tabla to the world stage, had been suffering from blood pressure problems, Hussain’s manager Nirmala Bachani added. “He has been admitted to a hospital in San Francisco for the last two weeks with a heart problem,” Ms. Bachani said.

“He is not doing well and is currently in intensive care. We are all worried about the situation,” Chaurasia said PTI. The eldest son of legendary tabla player Allah Rakha, Hussain has followed in his father’s footsteps and made a name for himself in India and around the world. Hussain has received five Grammy Awards in his career, including three at the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year.

In his six-decade career, 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 percussionist TH “Vikku” Vinayakram that stood out in India Classical and Indian music brought together elements of jazz in a previously unknown fusion. As concerns about Hussain’s health grew, senior broadcast journalist Pervaiz Alam also took to X to share the news, quoting the musician’s brother-in-law Ayub Aulia.

“Ustad Zakir Hussain, tabla player, percussionist, composer, former actor and son of legendary tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha, is not well. He is being treated for serious ailments in a hospital in San Francisco, USA, his brother-in-law Ayub Aulia told me in a telephone conversation. Aulia Sahab from London asked Zakir’s followers to pray for his speedy recovery,” he wrote in a post. 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.