Celebrated classical vocalist Rashid Khan dead

Kolkata, Jan 9  Celebrated Hindustani classical singer Ustad Rashid Khan died at a private hospital here on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, official sources said.
Khan, a Padmashree awardee, was 55. The venerable singer was on artificial ventilation support as his condition had deteriorated last month after he suffered a cerebral attack. The end came around 3-45 PM, hospital sources said.
He is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter.
Born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh, Rashid Khan received his initial training from his maternal grand-uncle, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan.
A 31st generation descendent of Mian Tansen, Rashid Khan gave his first concert at the age of eleven.
In April 1980, when Nissar Hussain Khan moved to Kolkata with his grandfather, Rashid Khan also joined the academy at the age of 14. By 1994, he was had made a name for himself at the academy.
The Rampur-Sahaswan gayaki (style of singing) is closely related to the Gwalior gharana, which features medium-slow tempos, a full-throated voice and intricate rhythmic play.
Khan included the slow elaboration in his vilambit khayals in the manner of his maternal grand-uncle and also developed exceptional expertise in the use of sargams and sargam taankari (play on the scale).
He was influenced by the rich style of Amir Khan and Bhimsen Joshi and a;sp mastered the tarana, but sang them in his own distinctive style, preferring the khayal style rather than the instrumental stroke-based style for which Nissar Hussain was famous.
His renderings stood out for the emotional overtones in his melodic elaboration. Rashid Khan once said: “The emotional content may be in the alaap, sometimes while singing the bandish, or while giving expression to the meaning of the lyrics.” This brought a touch of modernity to his style, as compared to the older maestros, who tended to place greater emphasis on impressive technique
and skilful execution of difficult passages.
Khan has also experimented with fusing pure Hindustani music with lighter musical genres, e.g. in the Sufi fusion recording NainaPiya Se (songs of Amir Khusro), or in experimental concerts with western instrumentalist Louis Banks. He has also performed jugalbandis, along with sitarist ShahidParvez and others.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was on an official visit to South 24 Parganas district, returned and visited the hospital to pay her tribute to the musical maestro.
"The death of the singer is a great loss for the entire country and the entire music fraternity. I am in a lot of pain as I still can't believe that Rashid Khan is no more, " she said.
Rashid Khan was awarded the Padma Shri as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2006.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award in 2022.