Rashid Khan: The maestro who took classical music to India’s masses - BBC News

In a short career, Rashid Khan - who died earlier this week - became the foremost exponents of classical music.

4 days agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Rashid Khan via InstagramImage caption, Rashid Khan died in Kolkata city earlier this weekBy Nikhil Inamdar and Zoya MateenBBC NewsThe death of Indian music maestro Rashid Khan earlier this week was followed by an outpouring of grief on and off social media.

The 55-year-old singer died in a hospital in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) on Tuesday after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was buried with state honours two days later.

Sporting a mop of tousled salt-pepper hair and often dressed in bright floral shirts and kurtas, Rashid Khan didn't exactly carry the air of a traditional musical ustaad (maestro).

But he was, undisputedly, the defining artist of his generation, someone who enjoyed a kind of commercial success and public adulation that was rare for a classical singer of his era.

He commanded the biggest fee among his contemporaries and performed in packed auditoriums: in his busiest years, he was doing 20 concerts a month.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-67942757?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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