NEW DELHI: Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain has been admitted to the ICU of a San Francisco hospital with heart related problems, his friend and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia said on Sunday.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,” Bachani said.”He is unwell and admitted in the ICU right now. We all are worried about the situation,” Chaurasia told PTI.After multiple reports of his death surfaced online Hussain’s sister Khurshid Aulia confirmed that he is alive and breathing.“He is still alive. Please, I request you to pray for him. I am in touch with the family. He is very critical, but he is still breathing,” she said.News of his passing away broke late Sunday evening, with even the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting posting a tribute to the maestro. The ministry has since deleted its post.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 four 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.
Source link
