Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan dies: AR Rahman, Lata Mangeshkar pay tributes

AR Rahman, Lata Mangeshkar, Hansal Mehta and many others have paid their tributes as legendary singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan died on Sunday.

Classical Indian musician and Padma Vibhushan awardee Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan died on Sunday afternoon at his residence in Mumbai. He was 89.

Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan was also a Padma Vibhushan awardee.

Multiple artistes from the music and film industries paid their tributes on social media. Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman wrote, "The sweetest teacher of all ..May the Ghafoor-ur-Rahim give you a special place in the next world." Rahman also shared a video of his performance with the Ustad for MTV Coke Studio in 2013.

Lata Mangeshkar wrote in a tweet: "I just heard the sad news that great classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan Saheb is not with us anymore. It made me very sad. He was not just a great singer but also a great human being." She added, "My niece also learnt music from Khan saheb, as did I. His demise is an irreparable loss to the music world. My heartfelt condolences."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted about Ustad's death. "The passing away of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan Sahab leaves our cultural world poorer. He was a doyen of music, a stalwart of creativity whose works endeared him to people across generations. I have fond memories of interacting with him. Condolences to his family and admirers," he wrote.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta wrote, "My teacher. Guru to a student who just wouldn’t stay on. Great teacher. Great artist. Hindustani Classical Music has been bereaved. His students have been orphaned. I have been orphaned. RIP Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan Saab. Stay strong brothers Murtuza, Qadir and Rabbani."

Singer Harshdeep Kaur wrote, "Rest in peace...Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan Saheb Folded hands A gentle soul and a legendary artist. Huge loss to our music fraternity."

Khan's daughter-in-law Namrata Gupta Khan told PTI that the veteran breathed his last at 12.37 pm at his Bandra home. "Today morning he was fine. We had a 24 hour nurse at home. During his massage he vomited and I ran immediately his eyes were shut and he was breathing slowly. I tried connecting to doctors and when they came he had already died," she said.

Born on March 3, 1931 in Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, Khan was the eldest son in a family of four brothers and three sisters. Khan got his basic classical music training from his father and later studied music under his cousin, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan.

He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1991, followed by Padma Bhusan in 2006 and Padma Vibhushan in 2018. In 2003 he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artistes.