Famed tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins has died at the age of 95, his family said on social media Monday.
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Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins Dies at 95
Famed tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins has died at the age of 95, his family said on social media Monday.The jazz musician, who was nicknamed the 'Saxophone Colo...
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The jazz musician, who was nicknamed the 'Saxophone Colossus,' passed away at his Woodstock, New York home, his spokesperson Terri Hinte said in a statement Monday.
Rollins' specific cause of death was not announced, according to his spokesperson, who noted that health problems had confined him to his home in recent years.
The musician found recognition early on as a teen jazz prodigy who showed amazing ability to improvise with the music.
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Rollins would emerge as one of the icons of the bebop era opposite late legends such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane.
He also collaborated with the , performing on a saxophone solo on the group's 1981 hit Waiting on a Friend from the record Tattoo You.
Famed tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins has died at the age of 95, his family said on social media Monday. Pictured 1977 in New Orleans
Rollins' health problems had confined him to his home in recent years, a spokesperson said. Pictured 2012 in France
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Amid a decades-long career, Rollins took occasional breaks from the limelight, constantly tweaking his style as he described himself to the as 'a work in progress' artistically.
Rollins seen during in Perugia, Italy on July 13, 2012, his final year of performing live shows
Rollins, seen on the cover of his 1962 album The Bridge, would emerge as one of the icons of the bebop era opposite late legends such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane
Rollins told the New York Times in 2020 that the thing he missed most post-retirement, was performing - and the connection he felt it established between him and the universe.
'I played a couple of concerts early on where I was out in the open in the afternoon,' Rollins said. 'I was able to look up in the sky, and I felt a communication; I felt that I was part of something. Not the crowd. Something bigger.'
Rollins is survived by nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat and nephew Clifton Anderson.
His second wife Lucille passed away in 2004 after the couple was wed for nearly four decades.
No public memorial was planned at this time, his spokesperson said.
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