Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, legal name Le Sony'r Sun Ra; born May 22, 1914 in Birmingham, Alabama – May 30, 1993 in Birmingham, Alabama) was a jazz composer, banleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy", musical compositions and performances. He was known by several names throughout his career, including Le Sonra and Sonny Lee, and denied his connection with birth name, saying "That's an imaginary person, never existed … Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." He abandoned his birth name and took on the name and persona of Sun Ra (Ra being the ancient Egyptian god of the sun). Claiming that he was of the "Angel Race" and not from Earth, but from Saturn, Sun Ra developed a complex persona of "cosmic" philosophies and lyrical poetry that made him a pioneer of afrofuturism as he preached "awareness" and peace above all.