Sonny Rollins passed away at the age of 95.
The Saxophone Colossus died Monday at his home in Woodstock, New York.
He is survived by his nephew Clifton Anderson and his nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat.
Sonny Rollins, the jazz legend, popularly known as 'Saxophone Colossus', passed away on Monday (May 25) afternoon at his residence in Woodstock, New York. He was 95.
Sonny Rollins dies
A press release states, "Jazz saxophonist/composer Sonny Rollins, one of the most honored and influential figures in American music of the 20th century and beyond, died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY. He was 95."
He is survived by his nephew Clifton Anderson and his nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat, per the release.
No cause of death has been mentioned and no public memorial is planned at this time.
Sonny Rollins' death announcement was accompanied by one of his 2009 quotes that read: "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."
Who was Sonny Rollins?
Rollins' music career began in the late 1940s. He was mentored by pianist Thelonious Monk. His recording debut was at 18 in 1949 for Prestige Records in a band led by trombonist J.J. Johnson. 1955 was the turning point of his career when he joined trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach. In the year 1956, he led Miles Davis’ working band on the Prestige album “Tenor Madness.” In 1956, Rollins released his sixth and one of his best albums, “Saxophone Colossus,” which received praise from critics, such as Gunther Schuller and Martin Williams.
Rollins released more than 60 albums as a band leader. He won two Grammys. He retired in 2014 due to respiratory illness.
Earlier, in an interview with Jazz Times, Rollins described his fascination with the saxophone.
"My mother gave me my first saxophone, an alto saxophone, when I was 7 years old. I got the saxophone and I went into the bedroom and I started playing – that was it. I was in seventh heaven... I could have been there forever," he said.
