{"id":14377,"date":"2026-06-16T16:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefleetmag.com\/?p=14377"},"modified":"2026-06-16T19:40:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:40:59","slug":"jazz-great-sonny-rollins-passes-away-at-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefleetmag.com\/?p=14377","title":{"rendered":"Jazz Great Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Walter Theodore “Sonny” Rollins was born Sep 7, 1930, in Harlem, New York City. He was one of the last Jazz giants from an era when the genre was at its peak. This was the Golden Age of Jazz. It was periodized on the legendary \u2018A Great Day in Harlem\u2019 photo from 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oddly enough, Sonny is the youngest musician in the photograph. Sonny\u2019s peers were Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Smith, Errol Garner, Max Roach, and Cannonball Adderley. Along with Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, they revolutionized the saxophone. Tragically, Parker passed away at the age of 34 due to several health issues, and Coltrane died at 40 years old from liver cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Rollins tried his hand at the alto sax, he settled with the tenor sax. Some of his musical influences included Coleman Hawkins and Louis Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Rollins released some of the most acclaimed Jazz records around. His 1956 album “Saxophone Colossus<\/a>” was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2016 for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sonny Rollins’ 1962 album “The Bridge<\/a>” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015. During this period, he recorded songs that later became Jazz standards, including \u201cDoxy<\/a>,\u201d \u201cOleo<\/a>,\u201d \u201cSt Thomas<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cAiregin<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rollins has played with Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, JJ Johnson, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. He played well into the 1980s and 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonny lived six blocks away from the World Trade Center, and on September 11, 2011, he had to evacuate. He only carried with him, what else, his saxophone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sonny Rollins passed away on May 25, 2026, due to several health issues, including\u00a0pulmonary fibrosis. He was 95 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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