Debashish Bhattacharya

Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya (born 12 January 1963 in Kolkata) is an Indian Hindustani classical slide guitarist, singer, composer and educator, widely regarded as one of the foremost slide guitarists in the world. Born into a musical family of vocalists, he began playing a Hawaiian lap steel guitar at age three and made his radio debut on All India Radio, Calcutta, at four. He studied for a decade under slide-guitar pioneer Brij Bhushan Kabra and won the President of India Gold Medal in 1984. He designed four guitars for performing raga music - the Chaturangui, Gandharvi, Anandi and Pushpa Veena - played lap-style with a steel bar and finger picks. Over a career spanning more than 3,000 live performances and around 27 albums, he has collaborated with musicians including Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, Jerry Douglas and Derek Trucks. His work has earned two Grammy nominations, the 2007 BBC Planet Award, the 2016 Songlines Music Award and induction into the 2022 World Music Hall of Fame, and he is an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.