Mumbai born Zakir Hussain is a world-renowned tabla expert and with over 50 years in the industry, he is known as one of the perfectionists of the Indian instrument and an aficionado of Hindustani classical music.
Born to Alla Rakha, he followed in his father’s footsteps as a tabla player, beginning to learn the basics at just 3 years old and touring at age 11. He furthered his knowledge of music with a doctorate in the field at the University of Washington, USA in 1969. Since then he has recorded more than 150 concert dates every year, around the world.
He won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 1992 for his first ‘Planet Drum’ album, which also resulted in a reunion for many of the drummers on the album, who gathered from various regions to be a part of it. A reunion which culminated in the development of the ‘Global Drum Project’ album which won yet another Grammy at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009 for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
He also composed and acted as the Indian music advisor in 1999 Cannes Film Festival entry, Vanaprastham, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles and also won awards in Istanbul and Mumbai’s Film Festivals. His film career did not end there as he has also had his music featured in several movies including The Mystic Masseur, Little Buddha and the hugely popular Vietnam War movie Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Coppola and starring Marlon Brando.
The award winning drummer was also been the subject of the 1998 documentary ‘Zakir and His Friends’ as well as ‘The Speaking Hand: Zakir Hussain and the Art of the Indian Drum’ in 2003 before being invited alongside many legendary Jazz, World and Fusion musicians to the White House by President Obama in 2016.
He has been awarded the title of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan in 1988 and 2002 respectively, becoming the youngest percussionist in the world to be awarded these titles of merit by the Indian government. 1990 saw him become a recipient of the Indo-American Award for his cultural contribution to relations between the USA and India.
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