Roy Haynes, Grammy-winning jazz drummer, dies at 99

Roy Haynes, the Grammy-winning American jazz drummer, has died at 99.

Leslie Haynes-Gilmore, the drummer’s daughter, revealed her dad died on Tuesday after a brief illness in Nassau County, New York.

Haynes, who was born in March 1925, grew up in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

He began his musical career in the 1940s and became a full-time professional drummer in 1945.

In a career spanning over seven decades, Haynes played swing, bebop, jazz fusion, and avant-garde jazz. He also performed with the likes of saxophonist Lester Young and worked as part of Charlie Parker’s quintet from 1949 to 1952.

He was considered to have been a pioneer of jazz drumming. In the 1950s, he was nicknamed Snap Crackle.

Haynes received several awards and accolades for his works. In 1988, he secured his first Grammy Award nomination in the Best Jazz Instrumental Performance for his work with Chick Corea.

The veteran also won another two Grammy awards from his eight nominations. In 2012, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Grammys, with another Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America in 2019.

Haynes’ other awards included the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government in 1996, and honorary doctorates from both the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory.

In 2004, DownBeat magazine inducted him into their Hall of Fame, having being named in their readers and critics polls on 14 occasions.

Haynes was married to Jesse Lee Nevels Haynes. The union was blessed with three children. However, his wife died in 1979.