05/26/2026
Sonny Rollins, the tenor saxophonist and restless genius whose bold, distinctive tone and constant experimentation kept him on the cutting edge of jazz for more than 50 years, has died at age 95.
Some musicians evolve; others effect personal revolutions. The legendary jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins belongs to the latter category, Richard Brody writes: “To hear Rollins in the late fifties is to hear the lion roar.” Rollins, who died on Monday at the age of 95, began recording music in 1949, at the age of 18, and continued for more than 60 years. Rollins did not just live through each period of jazz’s history; he played a key role in all of them. A live album of his from 1957 featured him in a trio: just bass and drums—no piano. His experiments in form and collaboration brought his instrument to the forefront, as he improvised with seemingly effortless ferocity. Even as his name became synonymous with jazz itself, Rollins continued to push the genre forward.
