David Sanborn, the saxophone great who helped bring jazz to the masses, is dead after battling cancer.
His family and management announced the sad news Monday morning on his X account, revealing David died on Sunday from prostate cancer, and complications related to the cancer.
David Sanborn played the alto saxophone, and throughout his career, he bridged the worlds of jazz, rock, blues and R&B. For instance, he got his break in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967 and played with the group at Woodstock.
From there he went on to record with dozens of rock and soul legends, including Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Eric Clapton, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, D’Angelo, Al Jarreau, Billy Joel, Elton John, Carly Simon and The Rolling Stones. And, we could list dozens more.
In 1980, he played in the “Saturday Night Live” band, and frequently made guest appearances in Paul Shaffer’s band for “Late Night with David Letterman.”
Sanborn collected a total of 6 Grammys — 3 for his solo albums — and also had 8 gold albums and one platinum.
David was 78.