More On: Coronavirus
Joe Biden Tests Positive for Wuhan Coronavirus Again
Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers Fined for Violating COVID-19 Protocols
Shailene Woodley Defends Aaron Amid Rumored COVID-19 Quarantine Outings
Howard Stern: Aaron Rodgers Should Be Fired for 'Bulls--t' Vaccine Comments
Emilio Estevez Denies Being Anti-Vax After Exiting 'Mighty Ducks' Series
Wallace Roney, a celebrated jazz trumpeter and Miles Davis protégé, has died after contracting the coronavirus. He was 59. The virtuoso succumbed to the virus at Paterson, NJ’s St. Joseph’s University Medical Center on Tuesday, less than a week after being admitted with COVID-19 symptoms on March 25, NPR reports. “I am saddened to confirm …
Wallace Roney, a celebrated jazz trumpeter and Miles Davis protégé, has died after contracting the coronavirus. He was 59.
The virtuoso succumbed to the virus at Paterson, NJ’s St. Joseph’s University Medical Center on Tuesday, less than a week after being admitted with COVID-19 symptoms on March 25, NPR reports.
“I am saddened to confirm that the iconic trumpeter and jazz legend Wallace Roney passed away due to complications of COVID-19 this morning just before noon,” the Philadelphia-born musician’s publicist, Lydia Liebman, says in a statement to CNN. “Working with Wallace was and will remain one of the greatest privileges of my life. It was an honor to represent him and to be part of his musical world. I cannot even begin to express how much I will miss him and his music.”
Roney began playing trumpet when he was just 5 years old, and later attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Howard University and the Berklee College of Music. He played with a series of bands through his early 20s and rocketed to genre celebrity status when Miles Davis invited him to perform onstage at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival, writes NPR. He was 31.
In 1994, Roney won his only Grammy along with the Miles Davis Quintet’s surviving members for their album “A Tribute to Miles.”
“We are devastated that our brother trumpeter Wallace Roney passed away today due to complications from Covid-19,” Erin Davis, Cheryl Davis and Vince Wilburn Jr. — Miles Davis’ son, daughter and nephew — posted on Twitter. “He was loved and mentored by Miles. We will miss you Wally. We love you. Peaceful journey.”
Manhattan’s Jazz at Lincoln Center — which has suspended all concerts, classes and public programs through mid-May due to the coronavirus pandemic — also expressed what a huge loss Roney’s death is.
“With great sadness, we learned today of the passing of singular trumpeter Wallace Roney,” the venue’s reps tweeted. “A former mentee of icons like Miles Davis and Clark Terry, Roney has long since carved out his own reputation as a true modern great. He will be missed dearly.”
Roney is survived by his fiancée, Dawn Felice Jones, and his son and daughter, Barbara and Wallace Jr., children from a previous marriage to the late pianist Geri Allen.
