2026年5月25日 美国东部时间23:37 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
次中音萨克斯演奏家、永不满足的天才索尼·罗林斯于周一去世，享年95岁。他以大胆独特的音色和持续不断的实验精神，在超过50年的时间里始终站在爵士乐的最前沿。
其发言人特里·辛特在一份声明中表示，罗林斯在纽约伍德斯托克的家中离世。她未透露具体死因，但称过去几年里他因各类身体问题基本足不出户。
从少年天才时期，到后来更沉稳的独奏作品以及对自由爵士乐的实验，罗林斯以其即兴演奏技巧广受尊崇。他是比波普时代仍在世的最后几位大师之一，与约翰·克特兰、查理·帕克一同被视为他那个时代最具影响力的萨克斯演奏家。
滚石乐队1981年专辑《纹身你》中，收录了罗林斯在抒情曲《等待朋友》中充满惆怅的萨克斯独奏——这段独奏是他观看米克·贾格尔跳舞后创作的，这让摇滚听众也得以领略他的音乐。
尽管取得了长久的成功，罗林斯从未对自己的艺术创作感到满意，他偶尔会暂停演奏长达数年之久，并始终坚持采用 eclectic 全新的风格。
他总将自己称为“一项未完成的作品”，称自己并非那些满足于单一演奏方式的艺术家。
尽管早期的比波普作品最受粉丝欢迎，罗林斯从未止步不前，他表示即便只是聆听自己早期录音中的瑕疵，都让他感到“痛苦不堪”。
“我不认为自己已经学到了足够多的东西，我还有很多想学的，”他在2007年接受美联社采访时说道。
在上世纪90年代和21世纪头十年，罗林斯发行了一系列广受好评的专辑。他坚持严苛的练习计划，直到80多岁仍坚持巡演。最终，肺纤维化——一种导致肺部增厚受损的疾病——迫使他退休。他的最后一场音乐会在2012年举办，2014年彻底停止演奏。
尽管他怀念观众的喝彩，但他更怀念演奏本身。
“早年我曾在户外下午的场地上演出过几场，”他在2020年接受《纽约时报》采访时说道，“我能抬头仰望天空，感受到一种交流；我觉得自己是某个整体的一部分。不是和人群融为一体，而是比人群更宏大的某个东西。”
他2001年的专辑《这就是我所做的》为他赢得了格莱美最佳爵士器乐专辑奖。2006年，他又凭借《我为何而生》斩获格莱美最佳爵士器乐独奏奖。
《我为何而生》收录在专辑《无歌：9·11音乐会》中，该专辑是9·11袭击四天后在波士顿举办的现场演出录音。当时罗林斯的公寓距离世贸遗址仅几个街区，已被疏散，在妻子兼经纪人露西尔的敦促下，他坚持完成了演出。露西尔于2004年去世。
“我意识到生活本就是如此，”十年后他在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时回顾那场袭击事件说道，“我不知道为什么。我不知道为什么会发生这种事，不知道为什么人们会互相残杀、彼此憎恨。但这就是生活的一部分……我不知道为什么，但世界就是这样运转的。所以，我必须接受它。那场事件帮助我接受现实，也让我对人生有了更多感悟。”
他的幸存者包括侄子克利夫顿·安德森，以及侄女瓦林·安德森和加布里埃尔·德格鲁特。
西奥多·沃尔特·罗林斯于1930年9月7日出生在哈莱姆区的一个音乐家庭。父亲是海军士官，会演奏单簧管，姐姐弹钢琴，哥哥是小提琴手。
“我们过去常听阿波罗剧院的演出，听所有来纽约的大乐队表演。所以我在襁褓中就耳濡目染了大量音乐。当然，之后我就爱上了萨克斯，”他在2011年接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时说道。
“小时候我就知道自己会成为一名杰出的音乐家，”他说，“……我太热爱音乐了，我想它已经完全占据了我。我知道那就是我这辈子必须要做的事。”
8岁时，父母坚持让他学习钢琴，但他回忆道，“根本学不进去”。相反，他更愿意在户外打棒球。但到11岁时，罗林斯迷上了萨克斯，说服父母给他买了一支中音萨克斯。
他很难负担得起课程费用，基本是自学成才，但罗林斯很快就成了明星，转而演奏次中音萨克斯，每晚在俱乐部演出。
罗林斯在十几岁后期获得了首次重大突破，受邀加入塞隆尼斯·孟克的乐队。不久后，他便与迈尔斯·戴维斯和巴德·鲍威尔一起即兴演奏，后者甚至在他高中毕业前就带他进入了录音棚。
但和许多上世纪40年代末、50年代初的爵士音乐家一样，罗林斯的星途险些黯淡：19岁时他染上了海洛因瘾。随着毒瘾日益加深，罗林斯两次入狱——1950年入狱10个月，1953年入狱3个月——最终沦落在芝加哥街头。1954年，罗林斯主动入住肯塔基州列克星敦的一家医院接受戒毒治疗。
“那地方我再也不想回去了。……但那是一段经历。一段有益的经历。我的意思是，现在回头看，我可以说那是一段宝贵的经历，因为我挺了过来。当然，那段日子很艰难，”他在2011年接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时说道。
“我开始对人生有了更深刻的感悟，”他在2007年接受美联社采访时说道，“从那一刻起，我的意识才真正觉醒。”
出院后，他回到芝加哥，加入了马克斯·罗奇-克利福德·布朗五重奏。1956年，他录制了个人专辑《萨克斯巨擘》。这张专辑以简洁硬朗的波普风格，宣告他是爵士乐界最优秀的萨克斯演奏家之一，至今仍是他最具影响力的作品之一。
在接下来的两年里，罗林斯尝试了不同的创作手法，在三张具有里程碑意义的专辑中改用无钢琴三重奏编制：《走出西部》《 village vanguard 之夜》和《自由组曲》。
随后，在人气巅峰时期，罗林斯隐退，接下来的两年里，他独自在威廉斯堡大桥步道上东河上方的一个僻静角落练习。
“我职业生涯中最引以为傲的一点是，我能够超越名气和诸如此类的东西，”他在2007年接受美联社采访时说道，“去做我内心真正想做的事。”
在他隐退期间，爵士乐从快节奏、结构严谨的比波普风格，转向了更狂热、更混乱的自由爵士乐。1961年罗林斯重返乐坛时，他接纳了这种新风格——这一举措让他的粉丝产生了分歧。60年代中期，罗林斯在欧洲进行了大量巡演，在传统演奏和先锋派风格之间来回切换。他还为1966年让迈克尔·凯恩一炮而红的英国电影《阿尔菲》创作了原声音乐。
在一次日本之行中，罗林斯接触到了禅宗佛教，这促使他再次开启了长达数年的休假，一直持续到70年代初。
1972年，他再次开始录音，此时他已被视为传奇人物，并获得了主流认可。同年他获得了古根海姆奖学金，次年入选《DownBeat》杂志名人堂。他登上了《今夜秀》，并开始在音乐厅而非夜总会演出。
2011年，81岁的他成为肯尼迪中心荣誉奖得主。
他留下了许多未发行的录音作品，并表示不打算留下关于如何处理这些作品的指示。
“离开这个星球后，我就无法对这些事情指手画脚了，所以我并不担心，”他在2020年接受《纽约时报》采访时说道，“而且，天啊，我曾为我的音乐绞尽脑汁；以后再也不用为此烦恼了。谢天谢地。”
Sonny Rollins, trailblazing jazz saxophonist, dies at age 95
May 25, 2026 11:37 PM EDT / CBS/AP
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.
Spokesperson Terri Hinte said in a statement that Rollins died at his home in Woodstock, New York. She cited no specific cause of death, but said he had been largely housebound over the past couple of years because of various physical problems.
From his early days as a teen phenom to his more measured solo work and experimentation with free jazz, Rollins was revered for his improvisational skill. He was one of the last living greats of the bebop era and — along with John Coltrane and Charlie Parker — one of the most influential saxophonists of his time.
Rock fans got a dose of his music with the Rolling Stones’ 1981 album “Tattoo You,” which features’ Rollins’ wistful sax solo on the ballad “Waiting on a Friend,” devised after watching Mick Jagger dance.
Despite his enduring success, Rollins was never quite satisfied with his art, occasionally taking lengthy hiatuses from playing and consistently adopting eclectic new styles.
He always referred to himself as “a work in progress,” saying he wasn’t one of those artists who settle into one way of playing.
Sonny Rollins performs during the Berkeley Jazz Festival at the Greek Theatre in May 1979 in Berkeley, California. Ed Perlstein / Redferns / Getty Images
While his early bebop work was the most popular with his fans, Rollins never looked back, saying he found it “excruciating” to even listen to the flaws in his older recordings.
“I don’t consider myself a musician that has learned as much as I want to learn,” he told The Associated Press in 2007.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Rollins released a string of critically acclaimed albums. He maintained a rigorous practice regimen and continued to tour into his 80s. Pulmonary fibrosis, a thickening and damaging of the lungs, would eventually force him into retirement. He played his last concert in 2012 and stopped playing altogether in 2014.
While he missed the adoration of crowds, he missed the actual playing more.
“I played a couple of concerts early on where I was out in the open in the afternoon,” He told the New York Times in 2020. “I was able to look up in the sky, and I felt a communication; I felt that I was part of something. Not the crowd. Something bigger.”
His 2001 album “This is What I Do” earned him a Grammy award for best jazz instrumental album. He won again in 2006 for best jazz instrumental solo for “Why Was I Born?”
“Why Was I Born” was from the album “Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert,” a live recording from a performance in Boston just four days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Rollins, who had been evacuated from his apartment a few blocks from ground zero, had gone ahead with the concert at the urging of his wife and manager, Lucille. She died in 2004.
“I realized that this is the way life is,” he told CBS News, reflecting back on the attacks a decade later. “I don’t know why. I don’t know why this happens. I don’t know why people kill each other, hate each other. But it’s part of life. … I don’t know why. But it’s part of the way the world is. So, I had to accept it. And that incident helped me to accept and learn a lot about life.”
His survivors include a nephew, Clifton Anderson, and nieces Vallyn Anderson and Gabrielle DeGroat.
Sonny Rollins during a concert in 1965. Christian Rose/Roger Viollet via Getty Images
Theodore Walter Rollins was born into a musical household in Harlem on Sept. 7, 1930. His father, a naval petty officer, played the clarinet, his sister played the piano, and his older brother was a violinist.
“We used to listen to the Apollo Theater, and we used to hear all the big bands that came to New York. So I sort of imbibed a lot of music when I was a baby. And then, of course, I fell in love with the saxophone,” he told CBS News in 2011.
“As a child, I knew that I would be a prominent musician,” he said. “… I loved the music so much, I think it just consumed me. And I knew that was going to be what I had to do in life.”
When he was eight, his parents insisted he study the piano, but, as he recalled, “it didn’t take.” Instead, he said, he’d rather be outdoors playing baseball. But by age 11, Rollins became fascinated with the saxophone, and persuaded his parents to buy him one — an alto.
He had difficulty affording lessons and was largely self-taught, but Rollins quickly became an all-star, switching to tenor sax and playing the clubs at night.
Rollins had gotten his first major break in his late teens when he was invited to join Thelonious Monk’s band. He soon was jamming with Miles Davis and Bud Powell, who introduced him to the recording world even before he finished high school.
But like many jazz musicians in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Rollins’ rising star almost faded when he became hooked on heroin at the age of 19. As his addiction grew steadily worse, Rollins served two stints in jail — 10 months in 1950 and three months in 1953 — and ultimately found himself living on the streets in Chicago. In 1954, Rollins checked himself into a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, to undergo drug treatment.
“It’s a place that I don’t wanna go back to. … But it was an experience. It was a good experience. I mean, I can look back now and say it was a valuable experience, since I came out of it on top. But, of course, it was difficult,” he told CBS News in 2011.
“I began to have a deeper philosophy of what life was about,” he told the AP in 2007. “From that point on is when my consciousness awoke.”
Sonny Rollins on Oct. 20, 1980. Christian Rose/Roger Viollet via Getty Images
After being discharged, he returned to Chicago and signed on as a member of the Max Roach-Clifford Brown quintet. In 1956, he recorded a solo album, “Saxophone Colossus.” Its stripped-down, hard bop sound announced him as one of jazz’s premier sax players and remained one of his most influential works.
In the following two years, Rollins hit upon a different approach, switching to a pianoless trio on three more landmark albums: “Way Out West,” “A Night at the Village Vanguard” and “Freedom Suite.”
Then, at the peak of his popularity, Rollins went into seclusion, spending the next two years practicing alone on a solitary niche above the East River on a Williamsburg Bridge walkway.
“The thing that I am most proud of in my career is that fact that I was able to see beyond being popular and all that stuff,” he told the AP in 2007, “and do what my inner self told me to do.”
During his absence, jazz moved away from the fast-paced, tightly woven sound of bebop to the more frenetic and chaotic free jazz. When Rollins chose to return to the scene in 1961, he embraced the new sound — a move that divided his fans. In the mid-’60s, Rollins toured heavily in Europe, switching back and forth between more traditional and avant-garde approaches. He contributed original music to the soundtrack of “Alfie,” the 1966 British film that made Michael Caine a star.
It was during a trip to Japan when Rollins discovered Zen Buddhism, prompting another lengthy sabbatical that would last into the early 1970s.
When he chose to record again in 1972, he was now regarded as a legend and gained mainstream acceptance. He was granted a Guggenheim fellowship that year, and was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame the next. He appeared on the “Tonight Show” and began playing in concert halls instead of nightclubs.
Sonny Rollins at the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors. John Paul Filo/CBS via Getty Images
In 2011, at age 81, he became a Kennedy Center Honoree.
He leaves behind many unreleased recordings, and said he didn’t plan to leave behind instructions for what to do with them.
“After I get out of this planet I’m not going to have any say about what’s going on, so I’m not worried about that,” he told the New York Times in 2020. “And, boy, I agonize over my music; I won’t have to agonize about it anymore. Thank God.”