(MENAFN- Live Mint) Renowned tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain passed away on December 15 in a San Francisco hospital. He was 73. His family has confirmed that the cause of death was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease.
Jon Bleicher of Prospect PR, representing his family, shared the news. The Padma Vibhushan awardee's death has deeply saddened the music world, with tributes and condolences pouring in from fans and admirers worldwide.
Also Read | Remembering Ustad Zakir Hussain: The Tabla maestro who bridged cultures
Here are five unusual and lesser-known facts about the legend:
Child prodigy
Zakir Hussain was considered a child prodigy. He displayed an innate sense of rhythm even before he could speak. His father, Ustad Alla Rakha, noticed him tapping perfect beats on household objects at an age when most children were just beginning to explore sounds.
Acting
While celebrated for his music, Zakir Hussain also dabbled in acting . He appeared in a few films, including Heat and Dust (1983), where he played a tabla player. He also acted in Saaz, allegedly based on the lives of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle. Most recently, he acted in Monkey Man, directed and produced by Dev Patel.
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Zakir Hussain collaborated with Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg in the 1970s. He also collaborated with George Harrison, John Handy and Sir George Ivan Morrison.
University roles
Zakir Hussain was an Old Dominion Fellow at Princeton University, serving as a full music department professor during the 2005–2006 semester. He also worked as a visiting professor at Stanford University.
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Zakir Hussain's association with the fusion band Shakti was both musical and personal. After the first album , released in 1991, Shakti reunited in 2020 after decades. Hussain collaborated with McLaughlin, Shankar Mahadevan, V Selvaganesh, and Ganesh Rajagopalan. Their comeback album, This Moment, won the Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album award, beating prominent global artists like Burna Boy and Susana Baca.
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