Indian music struck a chord at the 2024 Grammy Awards with five musicians, including tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and flautist Rakesh Chaurasia, picking up the coveted prize at a glittering ceremony in Los Angeles.

While Hussain was India’s big winner with three Grammys, Chaurasia picked up two. Singer Shankar Mahadevan, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Hussain’s collaborators in the fusion group Shakti, won one Grammy each at the event held at the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday night.

Shakti won the 2024 Grammy Award for best global music album for This Moment. The album features the four Indians as well as the group’s founding member, the legendary British guitarist John McLaughlin. This Moment, which released to critical acclaim in June 2023, is the group’s first studio album in more than 45 years.

Besides his award for Shakti, Hussain won two other awards — the best global music performance for Pashto and best contemporary instrumental album for As We Speak.

The best global music performance category had eight nominees, including Abundance In Millets, a song by Falu and featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shadow Forces by Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily, and Alone by Burna Boy.

Rakesh Chaurasia, nephew of legendary flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia, won two Grammys as part of the ensemble of American banjo player Bela Fleck and American bassist Edgar Meyer for Pashto and As We Speak.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister praised the five artists for making India proud at the Grammys, saying their “exceptional talent and dedication to music” had won hearts worldwide.

“...These achievements are a testament to the hard work you keep putting in. It will also inspire the new generation of artists to dream big and excel in music,” Modi
said.

“Without love and music we are nothing,” Hussain said in his award acceptance speech for Pashto, one of the 12 songs in the fusion album As We Speak.

“Thanks to the Academy, thanks to all these great musicians for giving us this beautiful (live) music today... Families are here and without them, we are nothing. Without love, music, harmony, we are nothing.”

This is not the first win for Hussain at the awards, organised by the US-based Recording Academy. He had earlier won Grammys across categories, solo as well as in collaborations, in 1991, 1996 and 2008.

In 2008, six Indians — A.R. Rahman, H. Sridhar, P.A. Deepak, Gulzar, Tanvi Shah, and Hussain — won the Grammys across categories.

Rakesh Chaurasia said he was “happy and honoured” to bring two Grammys home to India.

“More than the joy I felt for myself, the pride of winning it as an Indian musician ranks higher. To win two Grammys on my first-ever nomination definitely makes it sweeter,” he told PTI.

The musician thanked Hussain for being an inspiration, saying that it was Hussain who had introduced him to Fleck and Meyer.

The As We Speak team — Hussain, Meyer, Fleck and Chaurasia — were also nominated for best instrumental composition.

Mahadevan, who took the stage alongside Rajagopalan and Selvaganesh, gave a shout-out to McLaughlin and Hussain. While McLaughlin gave the ceremony a miss, Hussain was backstage as he had won another Grammy.

“We miss you John ji. Zakir Hussain, he just had another Grammy today. Thank you boys, God, family, friends and India. We are proud of you, India,” said Mahadevan in the speech, dedicating the win to his wife Sangeeta.

Rajagopalan thanked the Recording Academy for the recognition.

Rahman, who won two Grammys for Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, shared a group selfie with Hussain, Mahadevan and Selvaganesh on Instagram.

“It’s raining Grammys for India... Congrats Grammy winners #ustadzakirhussain (3grammys), @shankarmahadevan (first Grammy) and @selvaganesh (first Grammy)” the music composer captioned his post.

Three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej, who also attended the ceremony, called 2024 the year of India at the Grammys. Kej, based out of Bangalore, won his third Grammy last year for the album Divine Tides.

“Wowwww.. this is truly India’s year at the Grammys!!! Wowww.. Rakesh Chaurasia, Shankar Mahadevan, Ganesh Rajagopalan, Selvaganesh Vinayakram and Ustad Zakhir Hussain.. India is truly shining!! Thrilled!!!! 5 Indians win in a single year :-) #GRAMMYs #GRAMMYs2024,” he wrote.

In a separate post, Kej hailed the triple wins for Hussain and the double feat for Rakesh Chaurasia.

“..And Ustad Zakir Hussain, the living legend, creates history by winning 3 Grammys in one night!!! Rakesh Chaurasia wins 2!! This is a great year for India at the Grammys.. and I am blessed to witness it. @RecordingAcad #indiawinsatgrammys,” he added.

The other nominees in the best global music album category were Epifanías (Susana Baca), History (Bokanté), I Told Them... (Burna Boy) and Timeless (Davido).

The nominees in the best contemporary instrumental album segment included On Becoming by House Of Waters, Jazz Hands by Bob James, The Layers by Julian Lage, and All One by Ben Wendel.

Sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar was the first musician from India to win a Grammy Award (best chamber music performance) in 1968. Since then, several musicians from the country, including Indian-origin Zubin Mehta and Anoushka Shankar as well as Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, L. Shankar and T.H. Vinayakram, have received Grammys in various categories.

Shankar Mahadevan of Shakti poses in the press room with the award for best global music album for "This Moment" during the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. PTI picture