Biography
Who is Anoushka Shankar?
Early life and education
Anoushka Shankar was born in London on June 9, 1981. She spent her childhood between London and Delhi. Her parents are Sukanya Rajan and Ravi Shankar.
As a teenager, she lived in Encinitas, California. She attended San Dieguito High School Academy. Anoushka graduated with honors in 1999 and served as homecoming queen.
Sitar training and early career
She began sitar training at age eight under Gaurav Mazumdar. From age ten, she accompanied her father on the tanpura. Her first public sitar performance took place on February 27, 1995 at Siri Fort in New Delhi.
This debut concert celebrated her father's 75th birthday and featured Zakir Hussain. In 1995, she recorded for the Angel Records box set In Celebration. At age 15, she worked on the album Chants of India with George Harrison.
Musical evolution and albums
She released Live at Carnegie Hall, which led to a 2003 Grammy nomination. In 2005, she produced her first non-classical album RISE. Anoushka performed at the Grammy Awards in February 2006.
She collaborated with Karsh Kale on the 2007 album Breathing Under Water. This project featured vocals from Sting and Norah Jones. She signed with the Deutsche Grammophon label in 2011.
Recent works and collaborations
Anoushka Shankar published a 20 year retrospective called Reflections in 2019. She released the Love Letters EP on the Mercury KX label in 2020. This EP featured artists like Alev Lenz and Ibeyi.
She appeared at the 2020 BBC Proms with Gold Panda and Manu Delago. She played on the July 2020 album Inner World by the Dalai Lama. She also collaborated with Patti Smith on the album Peradam.
Family and personal life
Anoushka is the half-sister of American singer Norah Jones. She also had a half-brother named Shubhendra Shankar who died in 1992. Her father was a sitar maestro.
She is married to Joe Wright. He is a film director. Wright produced the videos for her 2016 album Land of Gold.
Birthday and age
Anoushka Shankar was born on June 9, 1981, which makes Anoushka 45 years old today. That birthday falls under the Gemini sign. Anoushka shares the date with 35 other famous people.
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