Legendary musician Ravi Shankar, who almost single handedly put the sitar on the map in the 1960s and into the arsenal of too many bands to count, has died aged 92 in a hospital in the United States.
According to The Times Of India, Shankar complained of a breathing problem on Thursday and was hospitalised in San Diego where he was visiting with family in anticipation of surgery.
A three-time Grammy award winner and father of international superstar Norah Jones, Shankar began studying the sitar in 1938 around age 18. In the 50s he began to tour Europe and North America introducing Indian classical music to the western world.
His fame too began to grow in India, where he wrote several scores for popular films, and compositions for orchestras, before landing the influential job as music director for All India Radio in New Delhi.
But it wasn’t really until the 60s that he rose to international fame after befriending rock royalty George Harrison of The Beatles, a friendship which helped shape Harrison’s solo career and saw Shankar appear at Woodstock in 1969, as well as Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangladesh.
“An era has passed away with Pt. Ravishankar. The nation joins me to pay tributes to his unsurpassable genius, his art and his humility.”Labelled “the godfather of world music” by Harrison, Shankar helped introduce the world’s musicians to the centuries-old traditions of Indian music.
The pair met after Harrison became fascinated with the sitar after a visit to India. After experimenting with the unusual instrument on Beatles track ‘Norwegian Wood’ off Rubber Soul, Harrison sought advise from Shankar to help him master the instrument.
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Shankar agreed to teach Harrison, and the pair spent numerous weeks together at Harrison’s home in England before relocating to Kashmir. The relationship had a lasting impact on Harrison who recorded an Indian-inspired song “Within You Without You” for the Beatles’ seminal album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hears Club Band.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s office said today on hearing of his passing. “An era has passed away with Pt. Ravishankar. The nation joins me to pay tributes to his unsurpassable genius, his art and his humility.”
“A national treasure and global ambassador of India’s cultural heritage,” it added.
On hearing of Shankar’s passing, India’s ambassador to the United States, Nirupama Rao tweeted, “Mourn passing of a musical genius and gentle soul. Attended his last concert Nov in Calif. He played with such passion.”
Described as the most known contemporary Indian musician in the world, Shankar was active right up to his death and was recently nominated once more at the 55th Grammy Awards.
But his attention wasn’t solely focused on music. From 1986 to 1992, Shankar also served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha of the Parliament of India, and was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1999.
He is survived by his two daughters who are talented musicians themselves. Anoushka Shankar has followed in her father’s footsteps and is a famous Sitar player, while Norah Jones is an acclaimed singer in the Western world.
