Ali Akbar Khan is dead

Sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan died in San Francisco in the US after a prolonged kidney ailment. A recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, Khan was a colossus in the world of Indian classical music for the last five decades.

Sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan today died in San Francisco in the US after a prolonged kidney ailment, according to a family friend here.

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88-year-old Khan died at his music centre at 10 am IST, Rabin Pal, the secretary of sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar, said.

He is survived by wife Mary, three sons and a daughter. Pal, a family friend of the sarod maestro, said that he was informed about the death of Khan by the Ustad's family in San Francisco.

Khan's secretary in Kolkata Ashish Roy said the maestro, who was on dialysis, had been ailing for over four years and his condition had deteriorated in the last four months.

A recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, Khan was a colossus in the world of Indian classical music for the last five decades.