Sonny Rollins, legend of the jazz saxophone, has died
Sonny Rollins, one of the most influential jazz musicians of our time, died Monday afternoon. He was 95.
Sonny Rollins, one of the most influential jazz musicians of our time, died Monday afternoon at his home in Woodstock, New York, according to a statement from his publicist. He was 95.
Born Walter Theodore Rollins in Harlem in 1930, he was inspired at an early age by jazz legends Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, as well as his hero, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.
Rollins’ musical journey would eventually lead him to cross paths and collaborate with monumental figures like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. In the 50s, the jazz legend recorded his classic “Tenor Madness,” his team-up with John Coltrane, and his breakthrough album “Saxophone Colossus.”
After a career that spanned several decades, Rollins was forced to retire in 2014 after he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease.
No public memorial is planned at this time, his publicist said.
“I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I’m a person who believes this life isn’t the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn’t feel like that,” the musician is quoted as saying in 2009.
For a complete obituary on Sonny Rollins’ incredible life, please read The New York Times.