Jazz great Sonny Rollins dead at 95
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, died Monday at age 95.
www.cbc.caSonny Rollins has been reported as having died at age 95, with multiple outlets confirming his passing in late May 2026. He is remembered as one of jazz’s towering figures, whose playing helped shape bebop and post-bop saxophone over a career spanning more than six decades. If you’d like, I can pull recent obituaries or retrospective guides from major outlets and summarize key contributions and landmark recordings.
- Quick summary: Rollins, renowned for his robust tone and improvisational prowess, left a lasting imprint with albums like Saxophone Colossus and a long-running practice and performance tradition that kept him at the forefront of jazz through the 2000s. His death marks the end of an era for the bebop generation.
Would you like a concise obituary recap with notable performances, or a timeline of his studio and live-recorded milestones? If you want, I can also share links to major tributes and a few listening suggestions to celebrate his legacy.