- Jan 1 Andy Gill, British guitarist and record producer (Gang of Four - "Damaged Goods"), born in Manchester, England (d. 2020)
- Jan 1 Martin Plaza [Murphy], Australian new wave singer-songwriter (Mental As Anything - "Live It Up"; solo - "Concrete and Clay"), born in Sydney, Australia
- Jan 4 Bernard Sumner [Albrecht], English rock guitarist, vocalist (Joy Division and New Order), born in Salford, England
- Jan 4 Nels Cline, American guitarist and composer (Wilco), born in Los Angeles, California
- Jan 8 Archie Roach, Aboriginal Australian blues singer-songwriter (Took The Children Away), born in the Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve, Australia (d. 2022)
- Jan 10 Don Letts, British film director and musician (Big Audio Dynamite), born in London, England
- Jan 10 Shawn Colvin, American country folk singer-songwriter ("Sunny Came Home"), born in Vermillion, South Dakota
- Jan 11 Big Bank Hank [Henry Lee Jackson] American rapper (The Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight"), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2014)
- Jan 11 Robert Earl Keen, American singer-songwriter ("What I Really Mean"), born in Houston, Texas
- Jan 13 Malcolm Foster, British rock bassist (Pretenders, 1984-89; Simple Minds, 1989-95), born in Hereford, England
- Jan 14 Ben Heppner, Canadian tenor, and broadcaster, born in Murrayville, British Columbia
- Jan 14 Étienne Daho, French singer-songwriter, born in Oran, Algeria
- Jan 17 Cristina [Monet Zilkha], American dance-pop singer songwriter ("Sleep It Off"), born in New York City (d. 2020)
- Jan 17 Paul Young, British rock and blue-eyed soul vocalist ("Every Time You Go Away"; Band-Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas?"), born in Luton, England
- Jan 18 George Mark Collie, American country singer ("Another Old Soldier"), born in Waynesboro Tennessee
- Jan 19 Carman Licciardello, American Christian music singer-songwriter ("The Champion"; "Radically Saved"), born in Trenton, New Jersey (d. 2021)
- Jan 19 Parthenon Huxley [Richard Miller], American rock guitarist, singer- songwriter and producer (ELO II; The Orchestra; P. Hux), born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Jan 20 Adrian Vernon Fish, British classical composer, and Irish radio host (Fish on Fridays), born in Bristol, England
- Jan 21 Bob Brill, American drummer (Berlin - "You Take My Breath Away"), born in New York City
- Jan 22 Steve Riley, American rock drummer (L.A. Guns; W.A.S.P.), born in Revere, Massachusetts
- Jan 23 Larysa Kuzmenko, Canadian concert pianist, and composer, of Ukrainian heritage (Memoriam for the Victims of Chornobyl; Golden Harvest), born in Toronto, Ontario
- Jan 23 Lazar Ristovski, Serbian keyboardist (Smak and Bijelo Dugme), born in Novi Pazar, Yugoslavia (d. 2007)
- Jan 24 Hanne Krogh, Norwegian singer (Bobbysocks), born in Oslo, Norway
- Jan 24 Lounès Matoub, Kabylian singer-songwriter, guitar and mandole player, and Berber rights activist, born in of Taourirt Moussa, Algeria (d. 1998)
- Jan 25 Andy Cox, British guitarist (Fine Young Cannibals - "She Drives Me Crazy"), born in Birmingham, England
- Jan 26 Lisa Boray [Schulte Nordholt], Dutch jazz singer ("Lovers Until the End"), born in Breda, Netherlands
- Jan 28 [Pierre] "Peter" Schilling, German synthpop musician ("Major Tom (Coming Home)"), born in Stuttgart, Germany
John Lydon (68 years old)
Jan 31 English singer-songwriter and musician (Sex Pistols - "God Save the Queen"), born in Holloway, United Kingdom
About January 1956
How Old? 68 years old
Generation: Baby Boomer
Leap Year: Yes
Chinese Zodiac: Goat/Sheep
Star Signs: Capricorn (Dec 22 - Jan 19), Aquarius (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers