Tabla Maestro Zakir Hussain, Dies In US Hospital

New Delhi: Zakir Hussain, the exuberant maestro of tabla who once called the instrument his "mate, brother and friend" and embodied the universality of music in his 60-year career that made him a globally recognised musician, died in a San Francisco hospital early Monday. He was 73.

Hussain, one of India's best known classical musicians who was also composer and dabbled in some acting and modelling too, was suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, his family said in a statement. Confirmation of the death of the music legend -- who cruised through genres, be it western or jazz, with the same ease and mastery with which he drummed out rhythm and magic from the tabla -- came after hours of fevered speculation on social media.

He had been in hospital for the last two weeks and was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after his condition deteriorated. "He passed away peacefully after the ventilation machine was switched off. This was 4 pm San Francisco time (5.30 am Monday, IST)," Hussain's sister Khurshid Aulia told media.