Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain admitted to ICU in San Francisco

A file image of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Master table Zakir Hussain has been admitted to the ICU of a San Francisco hospital after experiencing heart related problems, his friend and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia said on Sunday (December 15, 2024).

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 has been admitted to a hospital in San Francisco for a heart related problem for the last two weeks,” Ms. Bachani said.

“He is unwell and admitted in the ICU right now. We all are worried about the situation,” Chaurasia told PTI. The eldest son of legendary tabla player Allah Rakha, Hussain has followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a marquee name in India and across the world. Hussain has received five Grammy Awards in his career, including three at the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year.

In his career spanning six decades, 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. As concern mounted over Hussain’s health, senior broadcast journalist Pervaiz Alam also took to X to share the news, citing the musician’s brother-in-law Ayub Aulia.

“Ustad Zakir Hussain, Tabla player, percussionist, composer, former actor and the son of legendary Tabla player, Ustad Allah Rakha is not well. He’s being treated for serious ailments in a San Francisco hospital, USA, informed his brother in law, Ayub Aulia in a phone call with me. Aulia sahab, based in London, has requested Zakir’s followers to pray for his speedy recovery,” he wrote in a post. The percussionist, one of India’s most celebrated classical muscians, received the Padma Shri in 1988, the Padma Bhushan in 2002, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2023.