Sonny Rollins, jazz saxophone legend and Rolling Stones collaborator, dies at 95

• Sonny Rollins died at his Woodstock, New York home at the age of 95
• His compositions St. Thomas, Oleo, Doxy and Airegin are recognised jazz standards
• Rollins received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 and a Kennedy Centre Honour in 2011
  

Sonny Rollins, widely regarded as one of the most influential saxophone players in the history of jazz, has died at his home in Woodstock, New York. The news was confirmed through a post on his official social media accounts. He was 95 years old.

A career spanning six decades and more than 60 albums

The tenor saxophonist enjoyed a career lasting more than 60 years, during which he recorded in excess of 60 albums. Several of his original compositions — among them St. Thomas, Oleo, Doxy and Airegin — have long since been established as jazz standards, cementing his place in the canon of the genre.

Shaped by the greats, then shaping greatness himself

Rollins's early musical development was shaped by the influence of Charlie Parker, the all-time great alto saxophonist whose innovations defined a generation.

During his school years, Rollins came under the mentorship of none other than Thelonious Monk, the legendary pianist and composer, and the two would go on to record together in later years.

His recording career brought him into collaboration with an extraordinary roster of jazz titans, including Ornette Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach and Miles Davis. His work alongside Davis produced three notable albums: Dig, Collectors' Items and Bags' Groove.

The moment even non-jazz fans will recognise

Even those with little familiarity with jazz will have encountered Rollins's work. He was responsible for the lilting saxophone solo heard at the close of the Rolling Stones' Waiting on a Friend, a contribution that brought his artistry to an entirely different global audience.

Rollins gave his final performance in 2014, after which he stepped back from the stage entirely.

Honours and recognition

Throughout his life, Rollins received some of the most prestigious honours available to an American artist. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2004, followed by a National Medal of the Arts in 2010.

In 2011, President Obama presented Rollins with a Kennedy Centre Honour, an accolade he received alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond and actress Meryl Streep.

His own words on creativity and what lies beyond

Accompanying the announcement of his death was a quote Rollins gave in 2009, in which he reflected on creativity, spirituality and the afterlife:

"I think when the creative person ends, he continues in the next existence. I'm a person who believes this life isn't the be-all and end-all of everything. A spiritual person doesn't feel like that."