Ustad Zakir Hussain Passes Away at 73

Tabla legend Zakir Hussain has passed away in San Francisco, his family confirmed in a statement. In a press release sent out on behalf of the family, the cause of death was due to “idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.”

He is survived by his wife, Antonia Minnecola; his daughters, Anisa Qureshi (her husband, Taylor Phillips, and their daughter, Zara) and Isabella Qureshi; his brothers, Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi; and his sister, Khurshid Aulia. The press release adds, “He leaves behind an extraordinary legacy cherished by countless music lovers around the globe, with an influence that will resonate for generations to come. His prolific work as a teacher, mentor and educator has left an indelible mark on countless musicians. He hoped to inspire the next generation to go further. He leaves behind an unparalleled legacy as a cultural ambassador and one of the greatest musicians of all time. The family requests privacy at this time.”

The artist had been admitted to a hospital in San Francisco on Sunday, owing to heart-related ailments that Hussain was having for the last two weeks. At the time, the family had confirmed it was “very critical” but had not passed away, even as several tributes and obituaries emerged online without verifying.

Born on March 9th, 1951, Hussain — the eldest son of legendary tabla maestro Ustad Alla Rakha and Bavi Begum — began learning the instrument from a very young age and began touring by the time he was 12 years old. Growing up amid regular fusion experiments in the Sixties involving the likes of Alla Rakha as well as Pandit Ravi Shankar, Hussain met jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin in 1969. Along with violinist L. Shankar and ghatam artist Vikku Vinayakram, they went on to form Shakti in 1972.

Hussain told Rolling Stone India in our cover story earlier this year, “In the early days, John ji and Shankar would allow me and Vikku ji to come up with the rhythmic element to support the compositions, and we thought of korvais and rhythmic transitions which John ji would incorporate. Playing with Selva bhai was great fun too. He had grown up on Shakti and is an extension of Vikku ji. That works perfectly.”

While they were active up to the Eighties, some members including Hussain and McLaughlin launched Remember Shakti in 1997, joined by vocalist-composer Shankar Mahadevan, mandolin artist U. Srinivas and flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. Saturday Night In Bombay, their live album, was released in 2000.

From electronic experiments like the project Tabla Beat Science which defined the Asian Underground sound to performing with the Symphony Orchestra of India to becoming the face of a tea brand and even acting in movies (he most recently appeared in Indian-origin, U.K. actor-director Dev Patel’s Monkey Man), Hussain balanced his household name status along with bold artistic pursuits.

It’s part of why the reformed Shakti’s album This Moment went on to win the Best Global Music Album award in early 2024. Hussain went on to win two more Grammys the same night — for the album As We Speak, featuring banjo player Bela Fleck, bassist Edgar Meyer, and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia in the the Best Global Music Performance award for the song “Pashto,” and the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

He told Rolling Stone India about receiving the awards in person. “The award for ‘Pashto’ was announced first. I wasn’t expecting it at all, and since I hadn’t prepared a thank you speech, I ended up mumbling something randomly. Bela couldn’t attend the ceremony and as per the procedure, Edgar, Rakesh, and I went backstage to give bytes to the media. While that was happening, the Shakti award was announced, and I was clueless. It was only befitting that the younger generation of Shakti musicians—vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and kanjira player V. Selvaganesh—collected the award.”

In the time following his Grammy wins, Hussain was active as ever, touring around the world, setting up collaborations. He was slated to perform at a four-city India tour in January 2025 with Chaurasia, Fleck and Meyer to mark the success of As We Speak.