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American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer who revolutionized modern jazz. Coltrane pioneered modal and free jazz, recorded landmark albums like 'Giant Steps' and 'A Love Supreme,' and influenced generations with his spiritual approach and technical mastery.

• Fired from Miles Davis' band in 1957 due to heroin addiction; quit drugs cold turkey, describing the experience as a spiritual awakening.
• His intense 15+ minute performances (e.g., 'Chasin' the Trane') polarized audiences, with some walking out during avant-garde explorations.
• Secretly married pianist Alice McLeod in 1966 amid controversy over interracial relationships; she joined his band days later.
• Died of liver cancer at 40 after ignoring abdominal pain for months, attributing it to 'overexertion' from rigorous performing and practicing.
• Posthumously awarded a special Pulitzer Prize (2007) and canonized by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane.