Sonny Rollins — the towering saxophone legend whose sound reshaped modern jazz — has died at the age of 95.The iconic musician passed away Monday afternoon at his home in Woodstock, New York, according to a statement released by his publicist, Terri Hinte, according to Rolling Stone.No official cause of death was revealed. But even in death, Rollins left behind words that reflected the spirituality and depth that defined both his music and his life.“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.”Known around the world as the “Saxophone Colossus,” Rollins was more than a jazz musician — he was a revolutionary force whose improvisation changed the language of music forever.

Born Walter Theodore Rollins in Harlem in 1930 to parents of Virgin Islands heritage, Sonny Rollins was surrounded by rich Caribbean culture and music from an early age. As a child, he discovered the saxophone — and the connection was instant.“My mother gave me my first saxophone, an alto saxophone, when I was 7 years old. I got the saxophone and I went into the bedroom and I started playing — that was it,” Rollins once recalled. “I was in seventh heaven.”By his teenage years, he was already playing alongside future jazz greats and quickly became one of the brightest young talents of the bebop movement, sharing stages and recording sessions with legends including Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Max Roach.