Legendary US composer and songwriter Stephen Sondheim has died aged 91.
During his illustrious career, he wrote the scores of some of Broadway’s best-known shows, including Company, Follies and A Little Night Music. Sondheim also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story.
The New-York-born composer won eight Grammy awards, nine Tony awards – including the special Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre -–and one Academy Award. He also received a Pulitzer Prize.
In 2015, US President Barack Obama bestowed on Sondheim the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian award.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted: ‘Stephen Sondheim created fantastic worlds and characters, but at the heart of every story he told was a kid from New York City. And that kid was a legend. One of the brightest lights of Broadway is dark tonight. May he rest in peace.’
[Image: https://www.biography.com/musician/stephen-sondheim]