Famous music master Ustad Rashid Khan, 55, passed away suddenly on Wednesday while receiving treatment for prostate cancer at a hospital in Kolkata. He was ventilated and on oxygen support.
“At approximately 3:45 PM, Khan passed away despite our best efforts,” a representative of the private hospital where Khan was treated stated.
“The entire nation and the music industry are mourning a tremendous loss. I am in a lot of pain, as I still can not believe that Rashid Khan is no more,” Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee remarked in reference to Rashid Khan’s passing.
The musician’s condition deteriorated following his cerebral attack last month. The 55-year-old from Rampur-Sahaswan Gharana was treated at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital at first, but later chose to continue his treatment only in Kolkata. Sources claim that Khan was initially responding well to the treatment.
Badayun Rashid Khan, who was trained initially by his maternal grand-uncle Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1909–1993), was born in Uttar Pradesh and is also the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.
His musical abilities were initially noticed by his uncle, Ghulam Mustafa Khan, who gave him some introductory lessons in Mumbai. But the main teaching came from Nissar Hussain Khan, first at his home in Badayun.
In 1978, Rashid Khan made his stage debut at the age of eleven. A year later, in April 1980, he performed at an ITC concert in Delhi. At that time, when Nissar Hussain Khan moved to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA) in Calcutta, Rashid Khan, then fourteen, also joined the academy.
Khan also experimented with fusing classical Hindustani music with lighter styles, performing in concerts with Western musician Louis Banks and showcasing his versatility by taking part in jugalbandis, where he shared the stage with musicians such as sitarist Shahid Parvez.