Birth name
Born
Varanasi, United Provinces, British India
San Diego, California, United States
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active
In 1996, Shankar was a recipient of Bharat Ratna and maintained residences in both India and the United States. He had wife Sukanya, daughter Norah Jones; daughter Anoushka Shankar Wright and husband Joe Wright; three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.Ravi Shankar
He was an Indian musician and composer who played an instrument sitar with a plucked string. He was described as the best known Indian musician all the time.
Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent his childhood with his brother Uday Shankar's dance group visiting Europe and India. In 1938 he disavowed dancing to study sitar playing under court musician Allauddin Khan. Upon completing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, producing the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray, and from 1949 to 1956 he was the music director of All India Radio, New Delhi.
Through teaching, performance, and his collaboration with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and rock artist George Harrison of The Beatles, he began touring Europe and America performing Indian classical music in 1956 and increased its popularity there in the 1960s. Through composing concerts for sitar and orchestra, Shankar engaged Western music and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. He served as an elected member of the upper chamber of the Indian Parliament from 1986 to 1992. In 1999, Shankar received India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, and won three Grammy Awards. He continued to perform in the 2000s, sometimes with his daughter Anoushka.