Facts about the legend with magic in his soul, Zakir Hussain

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He turns 65 today and is always young at music and heart. He has performed throughout the world and continues to allure masses of various regions. He is also a music composer, film actor and a musical producer.

Here are some facts about this legend.

1. Zakir Hussain is the youngest percussionist to be awarded civilian honors – the Padma Shri in 1988 – by the Indian government.Zakir Hussain

2. He is the alumnus of the well known, St.Xaviers College in Mumbai.Zakir Hussain

3. He married Italian American Antonia Minnecola, a Kathak dancer, in 1978, and the couple have two daughters – Anisa and Isabella Qureishi.Zakir Hussain

4. He was part of a rhythm band named Planet Drum and received the 1992 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album, which was the first Grammy in this category.Zakir Hussain

5. The band reunited in 2007 after 15 years and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album in 2009.Zakir Hussain

6. Hussain first appeared in the film Heat and Dust (1983) for which he composed the music.Zakir Hussain

7. Pandit Ravi Shankar recommended Hussain for a music teacher’s position at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA.Zakir Hussain

8. Hussain was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2002.Zakir Hussain

9. He also won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1990.Zakir Hussain

10. In 1999, he was awarded the United States National Endowment for the Arts’s National Heritage Fellowship, the highest award given to traditional artists and musicians.Zakir Hussain

11. He composed, performed and acted as Indian music advisor for the Malayalam film Vanaprastham, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.Zakir Hussain

12. Hussain is a founding member of Bill Laswell’s “World Music Supergroup” Tabla Beat Science.Zakir Hussain