Musicians Who Died on April 14

  • 1655 Johann Erasmus Kindermann, German composer, dies at 39

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

German-British baroque composer and organist (Messiah; Water Music), dies at 74

  • 1813 Joachim Nicolas Eggert, Swedish violinist and composer, dies of tuberculosis at 34
  • 1843 Joseph Franz Karl Lanner, Austrian composer and violist, dies at 42
  • 1865 Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian musician, and piano maker, dies at 65
  • 1888 William Fiske Sherwin, American composer, dies at 62
  • 1943 Geoffrey Turton Shaw, English organist, composer, and educator, dies at 63
  • 1954 Lillian "Lil" Green, American blues singer and songwriter ("Romance In The Dark"), dies at 39 [or 57, or 48 - year of birth disputed]
  • 1974 Al Morgan, American jazz double-bassist (Cab Calloway; Fats Waller; Louis Jordan), dies at 65
  • 1981 Ivan Galamian, American violinist and violin teacher, dies at 78
  • 1983 Elisabeth Lutyens, English composer, dies at 76

Pete Farndon (1952-1983)

English rock bassist (The Pretenders - "Brass In Pocket"), drowns in his bathtub after a drug overdose at 30

  • 1983 Willem Frederik Bon, Dutch composer (Les Prédictions) and pedagogue, dies at 42
  • 1985 Reginald Beane, American pianist (Starlit Time: Once Upon a Tune), dies at 63
  • 1987 Karl Höller, German composer, dies at 79
  • 1988 Herbert Reynolds Inch, American composer and teacher, dies at 83
  • 1988 Johan Franco, Dutch composer, dies at 79
  • 1990 Thurston Harris, American pop vocalist (The Sharps, Little Bitty Pretty One), dies of a heart attack at 58
  • 1992 Sammy Price, American boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader, dies at 83
  • 1995 Burl Ives, American folk singer ("A Little Bitty Tear"; "Silver And Gold"), actor (Cat On A Hot Tin Roof), and snowman (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), dies from complications of mouth cancer at 85
  • 1995 James Daniel "Danny" Turner, American jazz saxophonist, dies at 75
  • 1996 Gaylord Birch, American drummer (The Pointer Sisters; Herbie Hancock), dies of cancer at 50
  • 1996 Manuel "Manny" Greenhill, American folk music record producer (Folklore Productions). promoter, and artist manager (Joan Baez; Rev. Gary Davis), dies of leukemia at 80
  • 1999 Anthony Newley, British actor and singer-songwriter (Doctor Dolittle; Goldfinger theme; Willy Wonka score), dies at 67
  • 2005 Benny Bailey, American jazz trumpeter, dies at 79
  • 2007 Don Ho, Hawaiian-American pop and Hawaiian music singer ("Tiny Bubbles"; "Ain't No Big Thing!"), dies of heart failure at 76
  • 2008 Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish jazz pianist (Seven Days Of Falling), dies in scuba diving accident at 44
  • 2009 Gayle Caldwell, American songwriter ("Cycles"), and folk singer (New Christy Minstrels; Jackie & Gayle), dies at 68
  • 2010 Peter Steele [Petrus Ratajczyk], American heavy metal singer-songwriter, and bassist (Type O Negative), dies of sepsis at 48
  • 2013 George Jackson, American rhythm & blues, rock, and southern soul songwriter (One Bad Apple; Old Time Rock and Roll), and singer, dies of cancer at 68
  • 2013 Sir Colin Davis, British conductor (Covent Garden, 1970-85; Bavarian Radio Symphony, 1983-93; London Symphony, 1995-2006), dies at 85
  • 2014 Armando Peraza, Cuban jazz, Latin jazz, and rock percussionist (George Shearing; Cal Tjader; Santana, 1972-90), dies at about 89 [birth year disputed]
  • 2015 Percy Sledge, American soul singer ("When A Man Loves A Woman"), dies at 73
  • 2017 Bruce Langhorne, American session and touring folk guitarist and tambourine man, dies of kidney failure at 78
  • 2017 Manfred Jung, German operatic tenor (Wagner's heldentenor roles), dies at 76
  • 2021 Michel Louvain, French Canadian singer ("Buenas Noches Mi Amor"), dies at 83
  • 2021 Norman "Rusty" Young, American pedal-steel guitarist, singer and songwriter (Poco - "Rose of Cimarron"; "Crazy Love"), dies of a heart attack at 75
  • 2023 Mark Sheehan, Irish rock guitarist and songwriter (The Script - "For The First Time"), dies at 46