- NEW: Ringo Starr: "Ravi was a great loss musically, spiritually and physically"
- Shankar taught Beatle George Harrison to play the sitar
- India's prime minister praises the man and his music
- His ethereal sound embodied Eastern transcendence for Westerners
(CNN) -- His music transcended trends and cultural barriers. Pandit Ravi Shankar's life, which traversed nearly a century, ended Tuesday.
The legendary sitar player, who taught Beatle George Harrison how to play the stringed instrument and brought Indian music to the West, passed away at age 92 in the early evening in San Diego, near his home, according to his wife, Sukanya, and daughter Anoushka Shankar, who were by his side.
Shankar was the father of jazz singer Norah Jones as well. He is also survived by three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, according to his record label, East Meets West Music.
His health had suffered over the past year, according to a statement from his record label, and he underwent heart valve replacement surgery last Thursday.
Pandit Ravi Shankar died Thursday, December 11, at age 92. The legendary sitar player brought Indian music to the West and taught Beatle George Harrison how to play the instrument.
Among Shankar's survivors is his daughter, musician Norah Jones.
Shankar performs with his daughter, Anoushka Shankar, right, in London in June 2008 during his final tour of Europe.
Shankar poses with Beatle George Harrison, left, and Harrison's wife, model Patti Boyd, in August 1972.
Shankar plays his sitar in 1966.
Shankar walks the streets of London with his sitar during a visit circa 1967.
Shankar's wife, Sukanya Shankar, poses with her husband and Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
Harrison and Shankar worked together on recordings and tours in the 1970s.
Shankar practices with tabla player Alla Rakha in 1967.
Shankar plays during the Premaanjali Festival 2012 on February 7 at the palace in Bangalore, India.
Photos: Sitar legend Ravi Shankar
Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar died December 11 at age 92. The legendary sitar player brought Indian music to the West and taught Beatle George Harrison how to play the stringed instrument. Among his survivors is daughter Norah Jones, the pop and jazz singer.
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Puerto Rican boxer Hector "Macho" Camacho died on November 24. A gunman shot him in the face in front of a bar in his hometown of Bayamon.
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Former Sen. George McGovern, 90, died on October 21. McGovern was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He ran against incumbent Richard Nixon and won only 17 electoral votes to Nixon's 520. He served in the U.S. Senate and House representing South Dakota before his loss for the top office.
Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania died at age 82 of complications from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on October 14 at his home in Philadelphia, his family said. Specter served five terms as a Republican senator and switched political affiliation in 2009.
TV and radio personality Gary Collins -- seen here in "Hour Magazine" and also known for his roles in television series including "The Sixth Sense" and "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" -- died on October 13, according to officials in Harrison County, Mississippi. He was 74.
Former NFL player and actor Alex Karras died on October 10 in Los Angeles, a family spokesman said. He was 77.
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Photos: People we've lost in 2012
"Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the surgeons and doctors taking care of him, his body was not able to withstand the strain of the surgery," his wife and daughter said.
In the 1960s, he took Eastern music mainstream in the West. He lent ethereal, spiritual sounds to the Fab Four through his friendship with Harrison, who recorded them on the "Sgt. Pepper's" album in the song "Within You Without You."
Virtuoso performances at Monterey in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969 helped cement Shankar's place in Western musical history as an ambassador of Eastern wisdom to a generation looking for new values.
"Ravi was a great loss musically, spiritually and physically. God bless to Ravi's family. Peace & Love," Beatle Ringo Starr said in a statement released through a representative.
In Bangladesh's bloody war of separation from Pakistan in 1971, Shankar and Harrison launched what UNICEF calls the first massive fund-raising pop event, The Concert for Bangladesh, to generate donations for the flood of refugees pouring into India.
Later, from 1986 to 1992, Shankar put his politics into practice as a member of India's upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha, or state assembly, serving with India's current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"It was difficult, often, to judge what was more remarkable -- the man or his music," Singh said of Shankar on Wednesday. He praised him as one of India's "most effective cultural ambassadors."
Both houses of parliament observed a moment of silence in his honor.
Shankar's musical career had a long life before and after the '60s. He was born on April 7, 1920, and when he and Harrison met, he was already 46 and famous in India as a classical musician, according to his record label biography.
His classical career outlived his counterculture fame, but he continued to meld East with West and composed concertos, which harmonized his sitar with orchestras. He played duos with American classical violin maestro Yehudi Menuhin and composed with American minimalist Philip Glass. He also wrote film music for the Hollywood movie "Gandhi."
Shankar kept homes in the United States and India.
Despite ill health, he shared a stage with his daughter Anoushka, also a sitar virtuoso, in early November.
It was his last public performance.
People we've lost in 2012: The lives they lived
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh and Denise Quan contributed to this report.
