All About Grammy Winner Band Shakti Ft Shankar Mahadevan, Ustad Zakir Hussain And Others

Shakti band, including Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and percussionist Selvaganesh Vinayakram, won Global Music Album award at the Grammy Awards for their album 'This Moment.'

Shakti is a pioneering fusion band that blends Indian classical music with Western jazz, rock, and other influences.

The band was formed in 1973 by English guitarist John McLaughlin, Indian violinist L. Shankar, percussionists Zakir Hussain (on tabla) and T. H. Vikku Vinayakram (on ghatam).

Shakti has gone through several lineup changes over the years, but the core members have always been McLaughlin and Hussain.

Mahadevan joined a temporary reformed version of Shakti called Remember Shakti alongside John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, U. Srinivas (mandolin), and Selvaganesh Vinayakram (percussion). They toured and released live albums but weren't officially considered Shakti as a permanent line-up.

U. Srinivas's untimely passing in 2014 led to a pause in activities for the group.

In 2020 Shakti officially reformed with Mahadevan as a permanent member, replacing Srinivas.

This Moment (2023) was their first new studio album in more than 45 years. (All images: Getty Images)