Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — Legendary Utah saxophonist Joe McQueen, whose career spanned eight decades and included playing with some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, died Saturday at the age of 100.
McQueen’s bandmates announced his death in a Facebook post Saturday night.
"Many have been reaching out throughout the day as the news has spread and I wanted to thank you all for your kind words, prayers, and shared memories during this tough time,” Ryan Conger, a member of Joe McQueen Quartet, wrote in the post. “I was fortunate to be able to spend the day with my family, Joe's wife, Thelma, some members of Joe's church, my fellow bandmate, Brad Wright, and other mutual friends of Joe's, reminiscing, sharing some tears, hugs, and memories of this amazing man.”
Born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma, McQueen started playing the saxophone when he was 14 years old and continued to perform up until his death. He told KSL earlier this year that he began playing after his mother’s death.
“(My aunt) had a full-length mirror showing me how it looked with the horn and all that and telling me all the things that I could do with playing the horn and that I couldn’t do playing football, basketball and all that stuff,” he said back in May, as he was about to turn 100. “From that day on, all I could think about was playing music.”
McQueen went on to play alongside other legends such as Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Charlie Parker, Nat King Cole, Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and many others throughout his life, a biography on the group’s Facebook page noted.
He arrived in Ogden, Utah, on Dec. 7, 1945 — exactly 74 years before his death — on what was supposed to be a week’s worth of shows in the state, but he ended up making Utah his home. That decision was made after a bandmate of his at the time took money from the band and McQueen and his wife, Thelma, opted to stay in Ogden permanently, according to the Ogden Standard-Examiner.
In 2002, Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt declared April 18 to be Joe McQueen Day. That day has since been filled with “many concerts, celebrations and events,” according to his biography. McQueen celebrated turning 100 by continuing to play music. In fact, he said back in May that he’d play until he couldn’t anymore.
“There isn’t anything else that could take me away from music,” he said.
Conger wrote that McQueen’s last show was in November.
“It was an honor to be able to share the stage with Joe on literally hundreds and hundreds of shows in the last few years of his life. He was an inspiring, swinging, and powerful player right up to the last show,” Conger wrote. “My favorite memories of Joe will always be when he was sharing stories and imparting wisdom … driving to the gigs, driving home from gigs, hanging out in the shed behind his house — jammin’, learning tunes, talking, listening to records. Joe never had any children of his own but he adopted several of us lucky folks late in his life and called us his kids.”
McQueen is survived by Thelma McQueen. The couple celebrated their 75th anniversary in June.
Funeral details weren’t immediately provided.
