Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain not dead but in critical condition, family now says

Despite reports that renowned Indian tabla maestro and composer Ustad Zakir Hussain passed away today (15 December) at the age of 73, his family clarified that the artist is in critical condition. 

He was undergoing treatment at a hospital in San Francisco, USA, for heart-related complications, reports Filmfare. 

He has been hospitalised following "serious" heart-related ailments, the NDTV, citing media reports, has said.

His manager, Nirmala Bachani, said on Sunday that he was admitted to a hospital in San Francisco.

"He is still alive. Please, I request you to pray for him. I am in touch with the family," Zakir Hussain's sister Khurshid Aulia was quoted as saying.

She added that her brother was "very critical, but he is still breathing".

Zakir Hussain, the peerless tabla player and multiple Grammy award winner, is critical and in a US hospital over serious heart-related ailments, his family said on Sunday.

His manager, Nirmala Bachani, said the artist he has been in the hospital for the last two weeks.

"My brother is deeply ill at this time. We are asking for all his fans around India and around the world to pray for him, to pray for his health. But as India's greatest ever exports, do not finish him off just yet," Zakir Hussain's sister Khurshid Aulia told news agency PTI amid multiple reports that her brother had died.

"I just want to request all the media not to follow wrong information about Zakir's passing. He is very much breathing at the moment. He is very very critical, but he's still with us. He has not yet gone. So, I will request [the media] not to spread this rumour by writing or saying that he has passed away. I feel so bad watching all this information on Facebook which is very wrong," she added.

"He is unwell and admitted in the ICU right now. We all are worried about the situation," Zakir Hussain's friend and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia also told the news agency.

No official statement has been made yet. 

Earlier, journalist Pervaiz Alam had shared news of the maestro's hospitalisation, revealing that Hussain was battling serious ailments. 

He wrote on social media, "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… Aulia sahab has requested Zakir's followers to pray for his speedy recovery."

Born in 1951 to the legendary Ustad Allah Rakha, Zakir Hussain is widely regarded as one of the greatest tabla players of all time. 

His illustrious career earned him numerous accolades, including India's Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan. In 2009, he won a Grammy in the Contemporary World Music Album category for Global Drum Project, a collaboration with Mickey Hart and Giovanni Hidalgo.