Music maestro Ustad Sultan Khan passes away

After Jagjit Singh and Bhupen Hazarika, another music maestro, Ustad Sultan Khan breathed his last today at the age of 71. The Sarangi player passed away after succumbing to kidney failure on Sunday afternoon.
His funeral will take place in Jodhpur tomorrow.
Not just the world of classical music, Ustad Khan also ruled the world of Hindi pop music.
­­­A Padma Bhushan awardee in 2010, the maestro popularized his favourite musical instrument, the ‘Sarangi’ throughout the globe, carving a niche for himself since the age of eleven.



Not just the world of classical music, Ustad Khan also ruled the world of Hindi pop music. Image from ibnlive

Ustand Khan’s profound baritone made him much popular, even to those who did not listen to classical music. Be it his ‘Piya Basanti’ or his ‘Albela Sajan Ayo re’ from the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, his voice never failed to penetrate the hearts of listeners with ease.
He collaborated with legends such as Ravi Shankar on George Harrison’s 1974 ‘Dark Horse World Tour’ to make the kind of music which was classical and popular at the same time. Sultan has won numerous musical awards. He has won the Sangeet Natya Academy Award twice, also known as the President’s Award, as well as the Gold Medalist Award of Maharashtra and the American Academy of Artists Award in 1998.
Khan’s was a family of sarangi masters from Rajasthan. He was initially tutored by his father, Ustad Gulab Khan. Later, he trained under Ustad Amir Khan, a classical vocalist of Indore gharana (school).