On This Day

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Musicians Who Died on April 1

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  • 1528 Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer
  • 1580 Alonso Mudarra, Spanish composer
  • 1734 Louis Lully, French musician and son of Jean-Baptiste Lully, dies at 69
  • 1799 Narciso Casanovas, composer, dies at 52
  • 1807 Louis François Chambray, French composer, dies at 69
  • 1807 Vaclav Josef Bartolomej Praupner, composer, dies at 61
  • 1830 Carl Borromaus Neuner, German composer, dies at 51
  • 1865 Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano, dies at 67
  • 1866 Aime Ambroise Simon Leborne, composer, dies at 98
  • 1878 Eugene Gautier, composer, dies at 56
  • 1915 Johann Joseph Abert, German composer, dies at 82

Scott Joplin (1868-1917)

American ragtime composer (The Entertainer, Maple Leaf Rag), dies at 48

Scott Joplin
  • 1918 Karl Valentin, Swedish composer, dies at 64
  • 1925 Francis William Davenport, English composer, dies at 77
  • 1930 Cosima Liszt, Austrian wife of composer Richard Wagner (founded Bayreuth Festival together), daughter of Franz Liszt and Marie d'Agoult, dies at 92
  • 1936 Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky, composer, dies at 61
  • 1951 Clement D'Hooghe, Belgian composer, dies at 51
  • 1964 Božidar Kunc, Croatian concert pianist and composer, dies of a heart attack backstage after a performance with the Detroit Symphony at 60
  • 1971 Baby Face Willette [Roosevelt Willet], American hard bop and soul-jazz Hammond organ player, dies of bronchial pneumonia at 37
  • 1973 Gus Aiken, American jazz and blues trumpeter (Jenkins Orphanage Band), dies at 70
  • 1974 Alfred Ernest Whitehead, English-Canadian composer, dies at 86
  • 1976 Freddie Lennon, father of John Lennon (Beatles), dies at 63
  • 1976 Miroslav Ponc, Czech composer, dies at 73
  • 1979 Bruno Coquatrix, French songwriter, music impresario (Olympia Hall, Paris), and politician, dies at 68
  • 1981 Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai singer, composer and bandleader, dies of cancer at 71
  • 1983 Ken Kersey, Canadian jazz pianist, and composer ("Boogie Woogie Cocktail"), dies at 66
  • 1983 Marc Vaubourgoin, French composer, conductor, and musicologist, dies at 76
  • 1984 Chepín [Electo Rosell], Cuban violinist, bandleader, and composer (Orquesta Chepín-Chovén), dies at 76

Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)

American soul singer-songwriter ("It Takes Two"; What's Going On"; "Let's Get It On"), shot to death by his father Marvin Gay, Sr., during a domestic dispute in Los Angeles at 44

Marvin Gaye
  • 1985 Herman Roelstraete, Belgium composer, dies at 59
  • 1986 Erik Bruhn, Danish dancer (National Ballet of Canada), dies at 57
  • 1992 Konstantin Sergeyev, Russian ballet dancer and director of the Kirov Ballet (Swan Lake), dies at 82 [1]
  • 1992 Nigel Preston, British drummer (The Cult), dies of a drug overdose at 28
  • 1993 Nicanor Zabaleta, Spanish harpist, dies at 86
  • 1995 Francisco Moncion, American dancer, dies at 73
  • 1996 Edwin H. "Buddy" Morris, American music publisher (Edwin H. Morris & Company), dies at 89
  • 1998 Rozz Williams, American musician (Christian Death), dies at 34
  • 1999 Jesse Stone, American R&B pianist, songwriter (Shake, Rattle and Roll), arranger, and record producer, dies at 97
  • 2001 Trinh Công Son, Vietnamese poet and songwriter, dies at 64
  • 2003 Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor, singer and composer (Farewell My Concubine), commits suicide at 46
  • 2004 Nilo Soruco, Bolivian singer-songwriter ("Ya la pagarán"; "Caraqueña"), dies at 76
  • 2004 Paul Atkinson, British rock guitarist and record company executive (The Zombies - "She's Not There"; "Time Of The Season"), dies of liver and kidney disease at 58
  • 2005 Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist, conductor, educator, and composer (McGill Chamber Orchestra), dies at 90
  • 2005 Harald Juhnke, German actor, comedian and entertainer (Guitars of Love; Schtonk), dies at 75
  • 2005 Jack Keller, American songwriter, and record producer ("Run To Him"; "Breakin' In A Brand New Broken Heart"; theme to Bewitched), dies of leukemia at 68
  • 2014 Joe "Speedo" Frazier, American doo-wop vocalist (Impalas - "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)"), dies at 70
  • 2015 Cynthia Lennon (née Powell), first wife of Beatle John Lennon (1962-68), and mother of singer, photographer, activist Julian Lennon, dies of cancer at 75
  • 2015 Dave Ball, British rock guitarist (Procul Harum), dies of cancer at 65
  • 2019 Michel Sénéchal, French operatic tenor, and educator, dies at 91
  • 2020 Adam Schlesinger, American rock musician (Fountains Of Wayne) and songwriter (That Thing You Do), dies of COVID-19 complications at 52
  • 2020 Ellis Marsalis Jr., American jazz pianist, and educator, dies of COVID-19 complications at 85 [1] [2]
  • 2020 John "Bucky" Pizzarelli, American jazz guitarist, dies of COVID-19 at 94
  • 2022 C. W. McCall [William Dale Fries, Jr.], American country singer (Convoy), dies of cancer at 93
  • 2022 Roland White [LeBlanc], American bluegrass mandolin player and vocalist (Kentucky Colonels; Lester Flatt's Nashville Grass), dies after a heart attack at 83
  • 2024 Michael Ward, American rock guitarist (John Hiatt, 1993-94; The Wallflowers, 1996-2001 - "One Headlight"; Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, 2007-16), dies at 57


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