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 … See more

Rollins has played, at various times, a Selmer Mark VI tenor saxophone and a Buescher Aristocrat. During the 1970s he recorded on soprano saxophone for the album Easy Living. His preferred mouthpieces are made by Otto Link and Berg Larsen. He uses See more

Articles
• Giardello, Joe (June–July 1995). "Sonny Rollins: Our Man in Jazz". Coda. pp. 8–11.
• Goldberg, … See more

1949–1956
After graduating from high school in 1948, Rollins began performing professionally; he made his first … See more

As a saxophonist he had initially been attracted to the jump and R&B sounds of performers like Louis Jordan, but soon became drawn into the mainstream tenor saxophone tradition. … See more

• Elected to the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame (1973)
• Honorary Doctor of Arts from Bard College (1992)
• Honorary … See more

• Official website
• Sonny Rollins Biography and Interview on American Academy of Achievement
• Detailed Discography at Jazzdisco.org
• Sonny Rollins papers, 1910s-2015 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New … See more