Ravi Shankar was born in Varanasi, India on April 7, 1920 and spent his youth performing across Europe and India as a member of his brother Uday's dance troupe. He gave up dancing in 1938 to study the ...

With contributions from: Ravi Shankar's daughter Anoushka, one of India's biggest music stars Zakir Hussain, George Harrison's wife Olivia, The Who's Pete Townshend and music historian Ken Hunt.

Why is he a Trailblazer? The most famous sitar player of all time, trailblazer Ravi Shankar shared his passion for the sound and traditions of Hindustani classical music with the whole world.