About Zakir Hussain
Ustad Zakir Hussain Qureshi (9 March 1951 – 15 December 2024) was an Indian tabla player, composer, arranger, percussionist, music producer and film actor who was based for much of his career in the San Francisco Bay Area. The eldest son of esteemed tabla player Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain was widely regarded as the greatest tabla player of his generation and one of its finest percussionists. He produced music across multiple genres and contributed to popularizing Indian classical music to a global audience. Often prefixed by the honorific title of 'Ustad', Hussain was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts' National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists and musicians. He was also given the Government of India's Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya, in 2018. Hussain received nine Grammy Award nominations, winning four times, including three in 2024. He was described as the most recognizable exponent of the tabla by The Guardian. The New York Times marveled that the "blur of his fingers rivals the beat of a hummingbird's wings." After college, he discovered the music of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors and considered becoming a rock drummer. The first Planet Drum album, released in 1991 on the Rykodisc label, earned the 1992 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, the first Grammy ever awarded in this category. The album Global Drum Project won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album at the 51st Grammy Awards Ceremony held on 8 February 2009.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.