This story has been edited to reflect the correct age of Floyd Newman.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Floyd Newman, a saxophonist who played with many music icons and was the first member invited to be in B.B King’s first band, passed away Tuesday morning, the Stax Museum announced. He was 91.

According to the museum, Newman started his career at the Plantation Inn Nightclub in West Memphis, Arkansas along with Ben Branch, Gene “Bowlegs” Miller, Phineas and Calvin Newborn, Willie Mitchell, and hired Isaac Hayes, who went on to become one of the most successful recording artists in history.

Floyd Newman and his saxophone (Courtesy: Stax Museum of American Soul Music)

He also brought Hayes to Stax Records in 1962 to play sessions.

Newman went on to play saxophone with many musicians including B.B. King, Otis Redding, Booker T. & the MGs, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes, The Mar-Keys, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and many more.

Newman, a graduate of Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, also became a band instructor for Memphis City Schools and a guidance counselor at Humes and Northside High School while he continued to make music until his retirement.

He has a music note in the Beale Street Brass Note Walk of Fame, and his saxophone was donated to the Stax Museum’s permanent collection in 2018.