John Coltrane

John William Coltrane was born on 23 September 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, and raised in nearby High Point, the only child of John R. Coltrane, a tailor and part-time musician, and Alice Blair Coltrane. His grandfathers were both ministers in the A.M.E. Zion Church. In 1938, when he was a boy, his father, grandparents and an aunt died within a few months, and he was raised by his mother and a close cousin.

After high school he moved to Philadelphia in 1943 and spent many years developing his sound, playing alongside greats including Dizzy Gillespie and joining the Miles Davis Quintet. In 1957 he overcame an addiction to heroin and described a spiritual awakening, a turning point that shaped the rest of his music.

Later in 1957 he recorded his debut as a leader, Coltrane, followed by Blue Train in 1958 and Giant Steps in 1959, a showcase for his rapid arpeggios over complex chord changes. He also played on Miles Davis's Kind of Blue in 1959, and My Favorite Things (1960) became a landmark.

In December 1964 he recorded A Love Supreme, a four-part suite of gratitude and devotion released in 1965 and often considered his masterpiece. His music grew more adventurous and spiritual, moving into free jazz and recordings such as Ascension (1966) and Interstellar Space (1967), made with a quartet and later collaborators including his wife, pianist Alice Coltrane.

Coltrane died of liver cancer on 17 July 1967, aged 40. He has received posthumous honours including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 and a special Pulitzer Prize citation in 2007, and the African Orthodox Church canonised him; San Francisco's Saint John Coltrane Church still holds services in his name. 2026 marks the centenary of his birth.