Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938 – March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965 and his long solo career afterward. He was an NEA Jazz Master and a five-time Grammy Award winner. Tyner has been widely imitated and is one of the most recognizable and influential jazz pianists of all time.

Tyner was born on December 11, 1938, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the eldest of Jarvis and Beatrice (née Stevenson) Tyner's three children.

Tyner was encouraged to study piano by his mother, who had installed a piano at her beauty salon. When he was 13, Tyner began piano lessons at Granoff School of Music, where he also studied music theory and harmony. By the time he was 15, music had become the focus of his life.

Tyner's decision to study piano was reinforced when he encountered bebop pianist Bud Powell, a neighbor of the Tyner family. Another major influence on Tyner's playing was Thelonious Monk, whose percussive attacks informed Tyner's style. During his teens, Tyner led his own group, the Houserockers.

When he was 17, Tyner converted to Ahmadiyya and changed his name to Suleiman Saud, although he continued to perform as "McCoy Tyner".

Tyner began playing professionally in Philadelphia with local artists such as Lee Morgan and Jimmy Heath, participating in the city's modern jazz scene. He first met John Coltrane, who eventually became "like a big brother" to Tyner, in the summer of 1955. They kept in touch, played together occasionally, and had an understanding that if Coltrane ever formed a group of his own, Tyner would be the pianist. In 1960, Tyner joined The Jazztet led by Benny Golson and Art Farmer and recorded on the group's debut album, Meet the Jazztet. Around the same time, Coltrane left Miles Davis's group and formed a quartet of his own, but because he was friends with Golson, he was reluctant to ask Tyner to leave The Jazztet. Encouraged by his wife, Naima, Coltrane eventually asked Tyner what he wanted to do.

After six months with The Jazztet, Tyner joined the John Coltrane Quartet, which then included bassist Steve Davis and drummer Elvin Jones. Tyner worked with the band during its extended run at the Jazz Gallery, replacing Steve Kuhn. Reflecting on the situation later, Tyner said, "There were probably some bad feelings at first with the Jazztet, but I think they understood better later on. John's group was where I belonged." Coltrane had already recorded Tyner's composition "The Believer" on January 10, 1958, which became the title track of Prestige Records' 1964 album under Coltrane's name.

The band toured almost nonstop between 1961 and 1965 and went through personnel changes on bass, with Reggie Workman replacing Davis and then Jimmy Garrison replacing Workman, establishing the quartet's classic lineup. The group recorded many albums widely considered jazz classics, including My Favorite Things (1961) for Atlantic Records and Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard (1962), Ballads (1963), John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963), Live at Birdland (1964), Crescent (1964), A Love Supreme (1964), and The John Coltrane Quartet Plays (1965) for Impulse! Records.