Sitar legend Ravi Shankar, who was described by Beatles guitarist George Harrison as “the godfather of world music”, has died at the age of 92.
The legendary musician passed away in San Diego where he was recovering from an operation last week.
His widow Sukanya and daughter Anoushka, his sitar protégée, said he had been too frail to withstand the strain of surgery.
On confirming the musician’s death, the office of the Indian prime minister said he was a “national treasure”.
Shankar helped millions of classical, jazz and rock lovers in the West discover the centuries-old traditions of Indian music over an eight-decade career.
He was a hippie musical icon of the 1960s and performed at Woodstock and hobnobbed with The Beatles.
Shankar also pioneered the concept of the rock benefit with the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh.
To later generations he was better known as the estranged father of popular American singer Norah Jones.
Shankar collaborated with Harrison, violinist Yehudi Menuhin and jazz saxophonist John Coltrane as he worked to bridge the musical gap between the West and East.
His close relationship with Harrison, The Beatles’ lead guitarist, shot Shankar to global stardom in the 1960s.
Harrison had grown fascinated with the sitar and played the instrument on the song Norwegian Wood.
But he soon sought out Shankar, who was already a musical icon in India, to teach him to play it properly.
The pair spent weeks together, starting the lessons at Harrison’s house in England and then moving to a houseboat in Kashmir and later to California.
Harrison went on to record the Indian-inspired song Within You Without You on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, helping spark the raga-rock phase of 60s music and drawing and increasing attention to Shankar and his work.
Pt Shankar was born Robendra Chowdhury in Varanasi in 1920 and began his career as a dancer in his brother’s troupe which toured Europe in the1930s. He trained under Indian classical musician Allauddin Khan and later came to the attention of Yehudi Menuhin, with whom he became a lifelong collaborator. He won three Grammy awards, including one for his contribution to George Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. He was a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.
He last appeared in concert at Long Beach, California on November 4 with his daughter Anoushka in what fans described as a perfect performance. India’s ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao said it had been “particularly poignant” and suggested she would take over his mantle. “Anoushka and he played together in perfect unison. A torch was passed,” she said.
Ravi Shankar Woodstock 1969 video
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