Legendary tabla virtuoso, Ustad Zakir Hussain, has passed away at the age of 73.

In a statement, his family said he died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, at a hospital in San Francisco, USA.

A child prodigy, he collaborated with Indian classical icons like Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, and Shivkumar Sharma and global musicians like John McLaughlin and George Harrison.

He was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, Bhushan & Padma Shri, a four-time Grammy award winner, and a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in the United States.

Through his performances, he is widely credited as helping to transform the tabla into a globally loved solo instrument that was the star of the show.