New York, Dec 16 (IANS): Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain is in a serious condition in a San Francisco hospital, according to his family, which asked for prayers for the music virtuoso.
In a post on X on Sunday noon, his nephew Ameer Aulia said, "We ask for prayers for my Uncle's health."
"He is in a serious condition and we ask for all his fans around the world to pray for his health," he said.
Earlier reports that the 73-year-old Hussain had passed away after being admitted to a hospital in San Francisco swirled around the media rocking the music world and breaking the hearts of his fans.
Aulia requested media reporting his death to remove their stories.
He wrote, "My uncle Zakir Hussain is very much alive and we would ask the news media not to post misinformation."
A journalist, Pervaiz Alam, reported on X that he had spoken to Hussain's family who confirmed that he was undergoing treatment in a San Francisco Hospital.
He wrote Hussain "is being treated for serious ailments in a San Francisco hospital, The US, informed his brother-in-law, Ayub Aulia in a phone call with me".
Alam, who had worked for BBC, added, "Aulia sahab, based in London, has requested Zakir's followers to pray for his speedy recovery."
The media reports of 73-year-old Hussain passing away rocked the music world and his fans came out with heartbroken tributes to his musical greatness.
Adding to the confusion about Hussain, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting posted, "The world has lost a true musical genius," but quickly deleted it.
Several ministers, chief ministers, politicians, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, industrialists, and entertainment and sports figures recorded their condolences on X while his mourning fans paid tributes to his musical genius.
Ameer Aulia said in another post, "No death certificate but the media would like to insensitively send information that my Uncle has passed away. Please show the Great man more respect than this. All the amazing things he did for India, please."
He also posted an undated picture of his mother with the maestro.
Hussain is the eldest son of Alla Rakha, the legendary tabla player.
He successfully crossed genres, while maintaining his mastery of Hindustani music.
His collaborators included George Harrison, once a member of the fabled Beatles, and Micky Hart of the Grateful Dead.
He also created the soundtrack for several movies, including Ismail Merchant's "Mystic Masseur", and played the tabla on the soundtracks of Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now", and Bernardo Bertolucci's "Little Buddha".
Former President Barack Obama invited him to the International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert at the White House in 2016.
Last year, India awarded him the Padma Vibushan, and he has won four Grammys, three of them this year.
According to StubHub, an online ticket-seller, Hussain is scheduled to hold 14 concerts across the US starting in March with a performance in Denver.
One of them is to be at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington in April.