David Sanborn, the Saxophonist Heard on David Bowie's 'Young Americans,' Dead at 78

David Sanborn, the veteran smooth jazz saxophonist known for his work on recordings by David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and others, died Sunday. He was 78.

According to a post on X, formerly Twitter, Sanborn died after "an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications."

Another post added that Sanborn "had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently. Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025."

Aside from his noted and diverse session work, Sanborn was a successful six-time Grammy winner as a solo artist with eight gold and one platinum album to his credit.

He began playing professionally when he was just 14, performing with blues greats Little Milton and Albert King, before joining the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1967.

He's also heard on the Stevie Wonder track "Tuesday Heartbreak," James Taylor's "How Sweet It Is (to be Loved by You)," and Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," as well as songs by Billy Joel, Carly Simon, the Eagles, Bryan Ferry and others.

Sanborn not only played on the Young Americans album, but he also toured with Bowie. "On the Young Americans tour, Bowie would sometimes let the band play for 20 minutes before he came on. I remember we had a week at the Universal Amphitheater in L.A. It was a great rhythm section with Doug Rauch on bass and Greg Enrico on drums," he recalled in a 2017 interview with Downbeat. "On the Young Americans album there was no lead guitar, so I played the role of lead guitar. I was all over that record."

In the same interview, Sanborn talked about his roots playing the blues in St. Louis that led him to his career in music. "

We used to go hear these musicians like Little Milton and Albert King at what were known as teen towns - recreation centers, where there'd be a swimming pool, a bandstand, a dance. There'd be no alcohol but regular touring bands like the Chi-lites, Ike and Tina, Chuck Berry as well as Milton and Albert," he recalled. "I was about 14 and I befriended this older guy, Rick Bolden (probably himself only 16 or 17), who played piano with Albert and saw me and a pal standing by the stage hoping to sit in, these young white guys, fans of the music. Little Milton graciously allowed me to sit in and boom, I was in show business! Then I thought to myself, I get to feel like this at my job? Then I'm in!"

See Dave Sanborn performing with David Bowie on the Dick Cavett Show in December 1974 below.

Tags

David Bowie