- May 3 Joe Ames, American singer and actor (The Ames Brothers Show), born in Malden, Massachusetts (d. 2007)
- May 4 John van Kesteren, Dutch tenor (Komische Oper, West-Berlin), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 2008)
- May 4 Virginia "Patsy" Garrett, American singer (Fred Waring's Pleasure Time), and actress (Nanny & the Professor), born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2015)
- May 5 Sonja Oosterman, Dutch pop singer and lyricist (De Marketentsters en De Musketiers), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2008)
- May 6 Freddy Randall, English jazz trumpeter, born in London (d. 1999)
- May 7 Gale Robbins [Betty Gale Murphy], American singer and actress (Fuller Brush Girl; Mr Hex), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1980)
- May 12 (Otis W.) "Joe" Maphis, American session and country music guitarist ("Dim Lights"), born in Suffolk, Virginia (d. 1986)
- May 12 Edvard Mirzoyan, Armenian composer, born in Gori, Georgia (d. 2012)
- May 17 Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (People, Mambo Italiano), born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 1998)
- May 17 Dennis Brain, British classical horn player (Serenade), born in London, England (d. 1957)
- May 18 Witold Silewicz, Polish-Austrian classical double bassist (Tonkünstler Orchestra), arranger, and composer, born in Rajsko, Poland (d. 2007)
- May 21 Leona Wood, American surrealist painter and ballet and folk dancer, born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2008)
- May 23 Humphrey Lyttelton, British jazz trumpeter and bandleader ("Bad Penny Blues"), and broadcaster (BBC2 - Best Of Jazz, 1967-2007; BBC4 - I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, 1972-2008), born in Eton, Buckinghamshire (d. 2008)
- May 25 (Catherine) "Kitty" Kallen, American big band (Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden) and pop singer ("Little Things Mean A Lot"; "My Coloring Book"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2016) [1]
- May 25 Hal David, American lyricist ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"; "What The World Needs Now Is Love"; "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2012)
About May 1921
How Old? 102 years old
Generation: Greatest Generation
Leap Year: No
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers