Four-time Grammy winner and Indian tabla maestro Zakir Hussain was excluded from the ‘In Memoriam’ segment of the 67th Grammy Awards, an apparent oversight by the organisers that left Indian fans furious.
The awards ceremony, organised by the Recording Academy, was held on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Every year, the Grammys pay tribute to industry legends who died in the year gone by in its ‘In Memoriam’ montage.
Hussain, who became the first musician from India to receive three Grammys at last year’s Grammys, died on December 15 from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in a San Francisco hospital. He was 73.
A section of social media users were not happy and wrote posts tagging the Recording Academy on microblogging site X about the omission.
“How come no mention of Zakir Hussain in Grammy obituary #Grammys2025 he was a winner last year (sic)” wrote one on X.
“Big miss. I didn’t see @RecordingAcad mention Zakir Hussain in the memoriam section. #GRAMMYs,” said another.
“Shame not to see 4 time winner and multiple times nominee Zakir Hussain in the Grammy tribute to artists lost recently. Real shame. SVP #GRAMMYs #Grammys2025 #ZakirHussain @RecordingAcad,” read another post.
During the live event, the Grammys honoured musicians such as Liam Payne, Kris Kristofferson, Cissy Houston, Tito Jackson, Joe Chambers, Jack Jones, Mary Martin, Marianne Faithfull, Seiji Ozawa, and Ella Jenkins.
Singer Chris Martin, fresh from the India leg of his band Coldplay’s world tour Music of the Spheres, performed the ‘In Memoriam tribute’ with guitarist Grace Bowers.
Comedian Trevor Noah hosted 2025 Grammys, marking his fifth consecutive stint as the emcee.
The 2025 Grammys are streaming live on Disney Hotstar in India.
