Sonny Rollins

Theodore Walter Rollins, known professionally as Sonny Rollins, is an American jazz saxophonist born in New York City in 1930. He rose to prominence in the 1950s with recordings for Prestige and Blue Note, becoming one of the most influential tenor saxophonists in jazz history. Rollins is celebrated for his melodic improvisation, rhythmic inventiveness, and thematic solo construction, often performing unaccompanied. Key albums include Saxophone Colossus (1956), Way Out West (1957), and The Bridge (1962). He collaborated with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Max Roach, and received a National Medal of Arts and multiple Grammy awards. Rollins retired from public performance in 2012.