John Coltrane died in 1967. The influential saxophonist died of liver cancer on July 17, 1967, in Huntington, New York, at the age of 40.
Coltrane had already transformed modern jazz by the time of his death. He first gained wide attention in Miles Davis’s groups and later played with Thelonious Monk before forming his own important ensembles. His music moved from hard bop through modal jazz and toward increasingly free and spiritually focused improvisation.
His best-known recordings include Giant Steps, My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, and Ascension. A Love Supreme, released in 1965, became especially associated with his spiritual commitment and remains one of the most studied albums in jazz history.
Coltrane’s death is sometimes confused with the deaths of other major saxophonists from the same era, including Charlie Parker, who died in 1955, and Lester Young, who died in 1959. Coltrane’s career was comparatively short, but his influence continued to expand after 1967.