Who was Sonny Rollins? Legendary jazz saxophonist dies at 95

Legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins, one of the defining figures in modern music and a towering force in jazz, has died at the age of 95.

Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York, on the afternoon of May 25, according to a statement released by his family. No public memorial is planned at this time. He is survived by his nephew Clifton Anderson and nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat.

For many outside the jazz world, the question quickly became: who was Sonny Rollins, and why did he matter?

Born Walter Theodore Rollins in New York City in 1930, the future music icon was raised in Harlem by parents from the Virgin Islands. Although he first learned piano, he later turned to the saxophone and eventually switched to tenor as a teenager, inspired by jazz great Coleman Hawkins, whose style helped shape Rollins’ own artistic direction.

Rollins’ influence on jazz began early. Before turning 20, he had already worked with some of the genre’s biggest names, including Miles Davis, Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson and Thelonious Monk, whom he later described as his “musical guru”. His bold improvisational style and technical brilliance would go on to make him one of the most admired saxophonists of the 20th century.

Yet his rise was not without hardship.

In the 1950s, Rollins struggled with heroin addiction and was arrested multiple times before receiving treatment at a federal narcotics hospital in Kentucky. He later spoke candidly about rebuilding his life and learning how to return to the jazz scene while staying sober.

His comeback marked one of the most prolific periods of his career. Between 1956 and 1958, Rollins released 16 albums, including A Night at the “Village Vanguard” , which is widely regarded as one of the greatest live jazz recordings ever made. Later, after stepping away from the spotlight for a period of self-reflection and practice, he returned with The Bridge in 1962, an album inspired by the hours he spent practising on New York’s Williamsburg Bridge.

Over the years, Rollins earned seven Grammy nominations and won twice. He later received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, followed by the Kennedy Center Honor and National Medal of the Arts in 2011, cementing his status as one of America’s most celebrated musicians.

Rollins gave his final concert in 2012 and stopped playing saxophone entirely in 2014 due to pulmonary fibrosis. In his later years, he often reflected on spirituality, creativity and mortality, saying he had learned to be grateful for a lifetime spent making music rather than mourning what he had lost.

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