Sonny Rollins, who first established himself within the jazz scene in the 1940s, stood as one of the last living legends of his era. Sonny Rollins died on Monday (May 25), leaving behind a rich legacy as a true colossus of the saxophone.
Via Sonny Rollins’ website, the news of the jazz legend’s passing was shared along with a quote from Rollins himself.
From www.sonnyrollins.com:
It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins. The Saxophone Colossus died May 25, 2026 at his home in Woodstock, NY at the age of 95.
“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.”
–Sonny Rollins (2009)
Rollins was born Walter Theodore Rollins on September 7, 1930, in New York City, N.Y., and raised primarily in Harlem. While in high school, Rollins was mentored by legendary pianist Thelonious Monk, but later switched to saxophone after being inspired by Louis Jordan.
Graduating from high school in 1948, Rollins began playing professionally and immersed himself in the bebop scene. Rollins was involved in a robbery, spending just under a year in jail at the infamous Rikers Island facility in the early 1950s. At this time, Rollins recorded with Miles Davis, his mentor Monk, and Charlie Parker.
Rollins struggled with addiction around this time but sought treatment, which led to greater opportunity on the playing front. While a member of the quartet featuring Max Roach and Clifford Brown, Rollins began to chart his own course.
In 1956, Rollins released his classic album, Saxophone Colossus, at the time his sixth studio album by this point. Towards the end of the decade, Rollins took time away from music and achieved notoriety between 1959 and 1961 for infamously practicing his craft on the pedestrian walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge, catching the ear of journalist Ralph Berton, who published a story in Metronome magazine about Rollins.
Rollins enjoyed a career revival of sorts throughout the 1960s, naming his 1962 album The Bridge as his comeback effort. He would then take another sabbatical in 1969 to study yoga and take up meditation for a two-year period.
Returning to music in 1971, Rollins went on a creative spree and reaffirmed his free-flowing playing style, with some dubbing him a master of improvisational playing. As the decades rolled on, Rollins remained a prolific recording artist and dedicated performer who used music as a vehicle for his many personal interests, including protecting the environment.
Rollins won a Grammy for his album, This Is What I Do, in 2002, and another in 2006 for Best Jazz Solo. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2004. Rollins, who retired from performing and recording in 2014, was nominated in 2012 for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.
Throughout the course of his decades-long career, Sonny Rollins inspired many of his contemporaries who performed covers of his songs, and even found himself sampled by Hip-Hop artists such as the Digable Planets and Del The Funkee Homosapien, among others.
Rollins was 95.
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Photo: Getty
