Zakir Hussain in ICU, no health update from family

Several news reports on Sunday night said that 73-year-old tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, who had been admitted to the ICU of a San Francisco hospital with heart related problems, passed away. UPDATED NEWS: Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain dies at 73 from pulmonary fibrosis, confirms family

However, an account claiming to belong to Zakir Hussain's nephew Ameer Aulia rejected the news reports of his uncle's death and urged to remove the misinformation.

Mint could not independently verify the X account.

Paying tribute to tabla maestro, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in a post on X said, "The world has lost a true musical genius. Zakir Hussain's contributions to the world of music will forever be cherished.”

However, the post was later deleted.

News agency ANI reported that the official confirmation from the family, hospital or the consulate in San Fransisco was still awaited.

Soon after the news media reported that the tabla maestro had passed away, social media platforms were flooded with condolence messages from politicians, sports persons, celebrities and industrialists.

Zakir Hussain is the son of the legendary tabla player Ustad Allah Rakha.

"My uncle Zakir Hussain is very much alive, and we would ask the news media not to post misinformation. We ask for prayers, and we ask for everyone's well-wishes," said a post on X account which claimed to belong to Zakir Hussain's nephew Ameer Aulia.

In another post, Aulia urged to remove this misinformation.

"He is in a serious condition, and we ask for all his fans around the world to pray for his health," Aulia added.

Meanwhile, journalist Parvaiz Alam said that the news of Zakir Hussain's death had not been confirmed by his family.

“I checked the latest with his brother-in-law in London at 1640 GMT on 15 December. The family has not confirmed the news of his death as reported by a few news outlets,” Alam said in a post on X.

Hussain's manager Nirmala Bachani said that the 73-year-old US-based musician, who has taken the tabla to the global stage, had been having blood pressure issues.

Several ministers, incuding Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Nitin Gadkari, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi posted the deepest condolences message on social media platform X.

— Hussain has received five Grammy Awards in his career, including three at the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year.

— 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.