MIAMI (EFE) – American saxophonist David Sanborn, a six-time Grammy Award winner whose work spanned several genres, has died at the age of 78 from complications resulting from prostate cancer, his representatives said Monday.
Sanborn, a “luminous figure” in jazz and contemporary pop, died on Sunday afternoon “after a long battle against prostate cancer,” according to a statement posted on his social networks.
The memo adds that the saxophonist was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, yet he continued his concert schedule until recently, and “in fact, he already had concerts scheduled for 2025.”
David Sanborn, music legend
Born in Tampa, in West Florida, and raised in Missouri, Sanborn heard Sanborn’s imprint in various genres and “was said to have brought the saxophone back into rock music,” the statement highlights.
He collaborated on David Bowie’s “Young Americans”, as well as on four albums by musician James Taylor, which included the hit single “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)”.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated with artists such as Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and the Rolling Stones, among many others.
6 Grammys
By the age of 14, he had already played with figures such as Albert King and in 1967 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, with whom he would go on to perform at the famous Woodstock Festival.
He made his debut as a solo artist with the album “Taking Off” in 1975, followed four years later with the album “Hideaway.”
He won his first of six Grammy Awards, three of them for his solo albums, with “All I Need is You” (1981), and throughout his impressive career he added eight gold records and one platinum record to sales figures.
“Travel junkie. Coffee lover. Incurable social media evangelist. Zombie maven.”