Walter Theodore “Sonny” Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a leader. A number of his compositions, including “St. Thomas“, “Oleo“, “Doxy“, and “Airegin“, have become jazz standards. Rollins has been called “the greatest living improviser”. Due to health problems, Rollins has not performed publicly since 2012 and announced his retirement in 2014.

Rollins was born in New York City to parents from the Virgin Islands. The youngest of three siblings, he grew up in central Harlem and on Sugar Hill, receiving his first alto saxophone at the age of seven or eight. He attended Edward W. Stitt Junior High School and graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem. Rollins started as a pianist, then switched to alto saxophone after being inspired by Louis Jordan and finally switched to tenor saxophone in 1946, influenced by his idol Coleman Hawkins. During his high school years, he played in a band with other future jazz legends Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew, and Art Taylor.