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Exclusive | Shankar Mahadevan dedicates Shakti band's twin Grammy nominations to late tabla maestro Zakir Hussain
On Shakti Band getting two Grammy nominations, musician Shankar Mahadevan says, “Zakir (Hussain) saheb is no more, so we are dedicating this album to him.”
After their Grammy triumph in 2024, fusion group Shakti has once again made India proud. Their latest album Mind Explosion has earned two nominations at the 68th Grammy Awards, for Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance for the track Shrini’s Dream.
Singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan, who now leads the legendary band comprising the late tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, guitarist John McLaughlin, percussionist V Selvaganesh and violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, has dedicated the nominations to Zakir Hussain, who died in December 2024.
“Unfortunately, Zakir saheb is no more, so we are dedicating his ablum to him. He and John McLaughlin founded Shakti 50 years ago, and I joined in 2000. I used to dream of just meeting them, and now I’ve been part of the band for 25 years, touring, performing, and now leading it, it’s truly a blessing,” Mahadevan tells us.
The album, he shares, is a compilation of recordings from about 25–30 live concerts across the US and Europe during their 2024 world tour. “We were in the process of releasing it when Zakir saheb passed away. It’s a void that can’t be filled. Creating a cohesive album from live shows was challenging, but we did it, and it’s an honour to be recognised with two Grammy nominations. We will miss him a lot,” he says.
He is excited to be a part of the Grammys on February 1, 2026. “It’s a double joy and blessing after Shakti band’s This Moment won Grammys last year (Feb 5, 2024). But, with joy at the same time there is a sadness that Zakir bhai is not with us. We will miss him a lot.”
In a collaborative post with Shakti50tour on Instagram, he posted a video of live performances of the musicians which is receiving massive traction and comments.
In another post, he thanked his co-musicians and “brothers V Selvaganesh and Ganesh Rajagopalan and maestros John McLaughlin, one and only Ustad Zakir Hussain ji and members of the recording studio.”
Other Indian nominees are sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar who got multiple nominations for Chapter III: We Return to Light, Delhi-based singer-composer Siddhant Bhatia for Sounds of Kumbha and Indo-American pianist and composer Charu Suri for her record Shayan.
