Singer Ustad Rashid Khan, who is the 10th generation face of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana, is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer at a hospital in Kolkata and his condition is said to be critical.
He is 55.
According to reports, he is also suffering from high blood pressure as well.
He has been undergoing treatment at Peerless Hospital for the last one month and is currently on ventilator support, reported ETV Bharat.
Why is Rashid Khan so special as a singer?
Blessed with a full-throated baritone voice, Khan is the 10th generation face of the Rampur Sahaswan gharana.
According to reports, he was honoured to be singled out by iconic Indian classical singer Pandit Bhimsen Joshi to sing a jugalbandi with him.
Khan once told The Asia Age that Joshi used to send with fondness special “paan” leaves for him from Satara.
Khan said there was a need to serve young generations with new songs.
“Khaana khane ke baad meetha bhi bahut zaroori hai, ye baat buzurgon ne kaha hai (After the main course, something sweet is necessary too; even the elders have said this),” he told The Asian Age once.
Khan, who considered Ustad Amir Khan sahib, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, as his icons, was born at Badayun city in Uttar Pradesh on July 1, 1968.
He received his initial training from his maternal grand-uncle, Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan (1909–1993). He is also the nephew of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan.
Rashid Khan gave his first concert at the age of eleven, and the following year, 1978, he performed at an ITC concert in Delhi.
In April 1980, when Nissar Hussain Khan moved to the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (SRA), Calcutta, Rashid Khan also joined the academy at the age of 14.
He 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 by the Indian Government in the field of Art.
He also rendered his voice to the popular Bollywood song ‘Ayoge Jab Tum’ from the movie Jab We Met by director Imtiaz Ali.