George Young

He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After leading his own band in the late 1950s, Young became a New York City session and studio musician in the 1960s and joined several line-ups including Mike Mainieri's jazz-rock big band White Elephant Orchestra, as well as later joining the Saturday Night Live Band.
In 1982, along with fellow saxophonists David Sanborn, Ronnie Cuber, Young was voted one of the Most Valued Players by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' annual awards edition.
Young has led his own quartets featuring Harold Danko, Rick Laird and Butch Miles (early 1980s) and another quartet, featuring Warren Bernhardt, Tony Marino and Tom Whaley (early 1990s). He has performed with Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey, Luciano Pavarotti, Mick Jagger, John Lennon, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Steve Gadd among others.
Young died in California on 23 April 2026, at the age of 88.