Sitar maestro and Bharat Ratna Pandit Ravi Shankar passes away at 92 in San Diego

"Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the surgeons and doctors taking care of him, his body was not able to withstand the strain of the surgery. We were at his side when he passed away," the family said.

A three-time Grammy award winner, Shankar last performed in California on November 4 along with Anoushka. The first of the Grammy awards came in 1967 for his collaborative album with Menuhin, 'West Meets East'.

Shankar has also been nominated for the 2013 Grammys for his album "The Living Room Sessions Part-1". Anoushka has also been nominated in the same category.

Shankar also composed for ballets and films in India, Canada, Europe and the United States. He created music for the 'Apu Trilogy' by Satyajit Ray.

Credited with incorporating many aspects of Carnatic music in the north Indian classical system, Shankar was music director of All India Radio, New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956.

A three-time Grammy award winner, Shankar last performed in California on November 4 along with his daughter Anoushka Shankar.

Shankar has also been nominated for the 2013 Grammys for his album "The Living Room Sessions Part-1" and was pitted against Anoushka in the same category.

He was awarded the three top Indian national civil honours - Padma Bhushan in 1967, Padma Vibhushan in 1981, and Bharat Ratna in 1999.

Shankar befriended Richard Bock, founder of World Pacific Records, on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label. The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to Harrison.

The sitar legend authored violin-sitar compositions for Yehudi Menuhin and himself, music for flute virtuoso Jean Pierre Rampal, music for Hosan Yamamoto, master of the Shakuhachi and Musumi Miyashita - Koto virtuoso, and has collaborated with Phillip Glass (Passages).

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