- May 1 Jerry Weiss, American jazz musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears), born in New York City
- May 1 Nick Fortuna, American rock bassist (The Buckinghams), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 2 Lesley Gore [Goldstein], American pop singer ("It's My Party"; "You Don't Own Me"), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2015)
- May 5 Steve Cash, American country-rock vocalist, songwriter, and harmonica player (Ozark Mountain Daredevils - "Jackie Blue", "If You Wanna Get To Heaven"), and author (Meq trilogy), born in Springfield, Missouri (d. 2019)
- May 6 David Avshalomov, American classical composer, vocalist, and conductor, born in New York City
- May 7 Bill Danoff, American vocalist (Starland Vocal Band), born in Springfield, Massachusetts
- May 7 Bill Kreutzmann, American rock drummer (Grateful Dead), born in Palo Alto, California
- May 10 Dave Mason, British guitarist and singer-songwriter ("We Just Disagree"), born in Worcester, England
Donovan (77 years old)
May 10 Scottish guitarist and singer-songwriter ("Sunshine Superman"; "Mellow Yellow"; "Season Of The Witch"), born in Glasgow, Scotland
- May 10 Graham Gouldman, English bassist and singer-songwriter (10cc), born in Manchester, England
- May 11 (Michel) "Plume" Latraverse, Canadian rock and blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, born in Montreal, Quebec
- May 14 Alan David Marks, American concert pianist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1995)
- May 16 Joel Eric Suben, American conductor and composer, born in The Bronx, NYC (d. 2023)
- May 16 Robert Fripp, British progressive rock guitarist, composer (King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"; Fripp & Eno; Bowie - "Heroes"), record producer (Roches; Peter Gabriel; Darryl Hall), and Mr. Toyah Wilcox, born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England
- May 16 Roger Earl, British drummer (Foghat - "Slow Ride"), born in Hampton Court Palace, London, England
- May 17 Udo Lindenberg, German musician, born in Gronau, Westphalia
- May 19 Trevor Veitch, Canadian-American folk-rock musician (3's a Crowd, Tom Rush), and pop record producer (Toni Basil's "Mickey"), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
Cher (77 years old)
May 20 American Grammy Award-winning singer ("I Got You Babe"; "If I Could Turn Back Time"; "Believe") and Academy Award-winning actress (Mask; Moonstruck; Mama Mia - Here We Go Again), born in El Centro, California
- May 23 Danny Klein, American rock bassist (J Geils Band - "Centerfold"), born in New York City
- May 23 Famoudou Don Moye, American jazz percussionist and drummer (Art Ensemble of Chicago), born in Rochester, New York
- May 24 Steve Upton, British-Welsh rock drummer (Wishbone Ash, 1969-90 - There's the Rub; Locked In), born in Wrexham, Wales
- May 25 Tim Hinkley, British rock and soul Hammond B3 organist and singer-songwriter (Jody Grind; Hinkley's Heroes), born in London, England
- May 26 Mick Ronson, English rock guitarist and producer (Mott the Hoople; The Spiders From Mars), born in Kingston upon Hull, England (d. 1993)
- May 27 Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Danish jazz double bassist, born in Osted, Zealand, Denmark (d. 2005)
- May 28 Claudio Roditi, Brazilian jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (d. 2020)
About May 1946
How Old? 77 years old
Generation: Baby Boomer
Leap Year: No
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
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