R.I.P Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar, sitar player, composer and Indian music ambassador passed away on Tuesday, December 11 near his home in San Diego at the age of 92. According to a statement issued by his family, Ravi had been suffering from respiratory and heart troubles for some time, and underwent heart-valve replacement surgery last week. The surgery was deemed successful, but the recovery proved too much for the 92 year-old.

Shankar's career had seen him go from a soloist, and composer for film in the 40s and 50s, to a worldwide star at the time of his death. His transformation into a globetrotting superstar began when he started to record with The Byrds and George Harrison of The Beatles. In the west his name is synonymous with the music of India.

Tributes have been pouring in all morning, the latest being Johnny Trunk – the head of Trunk Records – who took to Twitter this morning to announce that Shankar's 1950's debut album Music of India – Ragas And Talas will be made available for free download for today only. The LP is available from the Trunk website here.

Here's a video of Shankar performing at Monterey Pop in 1967.

R.I.P