Bobby Keys

Bobby Keys
Keys performing in October 2009
Background information
Born	(1943-12-18)December 18, 1943 Slaton, Texas, U.S.
Died	December 2, 2014(2014-12-02) (aged 70) Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Rock, jazz
Occupation(s)	Session musician
Instruments	Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
Years active	1956–2014
Associated acts	The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Warren Zevon, Joe Cocker, Joe Ely, Sheryl Crow, John Lennon, Leon Russell, Plastic Ono Band, Harry Nilsson, Paul McCartney

Robert Henry "Bobby" Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones,Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Nilsson, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, George Harrison, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and other prominent musicians. Keys played on hundreds of recordings and was a touring musician from 1956 until his death in 2014.

Keys was born at Lubbock Army Airfield near Slaton, Texas, where his father, Bill Keys, was in the U.S. Army Air Corps. His mother, Lucy Keys, was 16 when she gave birth to Robert Henry (Bobby), her first child. By 1946, Bill Keys got a job for the Santa Fe Railroad in Belen, New Mexico. The family moved to Belen, New Mexico, but young Robert stayed with his grandparents in Slaton, Texas, an arrangement he was quite happy with. Bill and Lucy would have three more children, Gary and twins Debbie and Daryl. Lucy Keys went on to become a state senator in New Mexico.

Bobby Keys started touring at age fifteen with Bobby Vee and fellow Texan Buddy Holly.

Keys met the Rolling Stones at the San Antonio Teen Fair in 1964. He is best known for his impressive resume as a musician (his contributions include the saxophone solo on the 1971 hit "Brown Sugar") and his friendship with Keith Richards. Keys and Richards share exactly the same date of birth. Notably, Keys and Richards threw a television set from the 10th floor of the Continental Hyatt House in West Hollywood, California during the group's 1972 American tour, as seen in the Stones' unreleased 1972 concert movie Cocksucker Blues. After renewing his acquaintance with the band via Gram Parsons, a mutual friend, Keys made his debut with The Rolling Stones on the Let It Bleed track "Live with Me" in 1969. In addition to "Brown Sugar," he was prominently featured on such early 1970s Stones songs as "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" and "Happy".