Indian sitar virtuoso, Beatles muse Ravi Shankar dies at 92
Ravi Shankar, the sitar player and composer described as the “godfather of world music” by Beatles guitarist George Harrison, has died. He was 92.
Ravi Shankar, the sitar player and composer described as the “godfather of world music” by Beatles guitarist George Harrison, has died. He was 92.
Shankar, who first performed internationally as a child, devoted his adult life to Indian classical music. His audience widened after Harrison, who introduced the sitar into rock music by playing the instrument on the Beatles’ Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), sought out Shankar’s tutelage.
In 1967, Shankar appeared at the Monterey International Pop Festival, where he was the only artist paid. Two years later, he played at the Woodstock festival. He collabourated with Harrison on the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, a benefit to help refugees of what was then East Pakistan.
“Ravi laid down the groundwork for other Indian musicians who were later able to perform all around the world because of him,” Harrison wrote in the introduction of Raga Mala, Shankar’s 1993 autobiography that the former Beatle edited.
Two daughters with musical careers are among Shankar’s survivors: Norah Jones, the Grammy Award-winning singer and pianist, and Anoushka Shankar, also a sitarist.