Sonny Rollins, Jazz Saxophone Great, Dies At 95

Sonny Rollins, one of jazz music’s most influential saxophonists, has died at his home in New York aged 95.

Legendary American jazz musician Sonny Rollins has died at the age of 95. The saxophonist, widely known for his long improvisations and decades of influence on jazz music, died at his home in Woodstock, New York.

His publicist announced his death in a statement, describing Rollins as one of the most respected figures in American music. No cause of death was given.

Rollins began his career in the late 1940s and became one of the biggest names in jazz. During his career, he worked with artists including Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. He released more than 60 albums and won two Grammy Awards before retiring in 2014 due to respiratory illness.

A message shared after his death included words from Rollins in 2009. He 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.”

Born Walter Theodore Rollins in New York in 1930, he was given the nickname Sonny by his grandmother. He was mentored by pianist Thelonious Monk and later performed with leading jazz musicians including Art Blakey and Bud Powell.

One of his best-known records, Saxophone Colossus, was released in 1956 and helped cement his place in jazz history.

Rollins also became known for practising for long hours on New York’s Williamsburg Bridge during the early 1960s. The experience later inspired his 1962 album The Bridge.

Speaking to Jazz Times about discovering music as a child, Rollins recalled: “My mother gave me my first saxophone, an alto saxophone, when I was seven years old.

“I got the saxophone and I went into the bedroom and I started playing – that was it. I was in seventh heaven.”

Rollins was also in New York during the September 11 attacks in 2001. He later said he escaped with only his saxophone after leaving his home near the World Trade Center.

In 2010, former US President Barack Obama presented him with the National Medal of the Arts, praising the musician for inspiring people to take risks.

Known for his spontaneous performances, Rollins once told PBS that he often stepped onto the stage without a fixed plan, allowing the music to guide him.