Vocalist Rajan Mishra dies of Covid

New Delhi: Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Pt Rajan Mishra died of COVID-19 complications at a hospital here on Sunday evening, shortly after friends and well-wishers put out SOS messages on social media looking for a ventilator for him. He was 70. Mishra, one of the foremost exponents of 'khayal gayaki' along with his brother Sajan Mishra, had been at the St Stephen's Hospital for the last three days, his son Rajnish said.

"He died of a heart attack around 6.30. We were trying for a ventilator but nobody supported us, nothing in any hospital. Later, the PMO reached out to help but he had left us by then," Rajnish said. Mishra is survived by his wife and three children, daughter Anju and sons Ritesh and Rajnish, who like their father and uncle, are singers.

Belonging to the Benaras Gharana, Pandit Rajan Mishra, along with brother Sajan Mishra has performed for both Indian and global audiences for decades now. Born in 1951, Rajan Mishra was born and brought up in Varanasi.