Musicians Who Died on April 21

  • 1652 Pietro Della Valle, Italian composer, dies at 66
  • 1696 Andres de Sola, Spanish composer, dies at 61
  • 1780 Ferdinand Zellbell the younger, Swedish composer and co-founder of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, dies at 60
  • 1878 Temistocle Solera, Italian opera composer, dies at 62
  • 1898 Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
  • 1900 Heinrich Vogl, composer, dies at 55
  • 1939 Herman Finck, British conductor (Palace Theatre (London), 1900-20), theater and light classical composer (In The Shadows), dies at 66
  • 1948 Carlos Lopez Buchardo, Argentine composer, dies at 66
  • 1958 Manuel Infante, Spanish composer and conductor, dies at 74
  • 1961 James Melton, American pop (1920-30's) and operatic tenor (Metropolitan Opera, 1942-50), dies at 57
  • 1968 Norman Demuth, British composer and musicologist specializing in French works, dies at 69
  • 1970 Earl Hooker, American blues slide guitar player ("Blue Guitar"), dies of tuberculosis at 40
  • 1975 Jack Westrup, English composer, dies at 70
  • 1978 Sandy Denny, English singer-songwriter (Fairport Convention - "If You Gotta Go"), dies of traumatic mid-brain hemorrhage and blunt force trauma to her head after a series of falls at 31
  • 1981 Eddie Sauter, American big band and theatrical arranger, bandleader (Sauter-Finegan Orchestra), and jazz composer (Stan Getz -"Focus"), dies of a heart attack at 66
  • 1985 Irving Mills [Isadore Minsky], American jazz music publisher, manager (Duke Ellington, 1926-48), singer and lyricist, dies at 91
  • 1991 Willi Boskovsky, Austrian violinist and conductor (Vienna New Year's Concert, 1955-79), dies at 81
  • 1996 Alceo Galliera, Italian conductor (Victoria Symphony; La Scala), and composer (The Wise Virgins and the Foolish Virgins), dies at 85
  • 1998 Peter Lind Hayes, American comedian and singer (Peter Lind Hayes Show), dies at 82
  • 1999 Charles "Buddy" Rogers, American film actor (Wings), singer, and dance bandleader, dies at 94
  • 2000 Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (The Jordanaires), dies at 70
  • 2001 David Hollestelle, Dutch baritone singer (Dutch Radio Chorus), dies at 84

Nina Simone (1933-2003)

American jazz pianist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and civil rights activist (“Mississippi Goddam”; “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black”, “Feeling Good”; “Wild Is The Wind”), dies of breast cancer at 70

  • 2004 Lorraine "Tui" St. George Tucker, American recorder player and composer (Catawba), dies at 79
  • 2007 Lobby Loyde [John Lyde], Australian rock guitarist and songwriter (The Purple Heart; Wild Cherries; Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs), dies at 65
  • 2008 Al Wilson, American soul singer ("Show and Tell"; "The Snake"), dies of kidney failure at 68
  • 2010 Gustav Lorentzen, Norwegian singer-songwriter (b. 1947)
  • 2013 Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer- songwriter (Divinyls - "I Touch Myself"), dies of breast cancer at 53
  • 2013 Jean-Michel Damase, French pianist and composer, dies at 85
  • 2016 Lonnie Mack, American rocker ("Baby What's Wrong"), dies at 74

Prince Rogers Nelson (1958-2016)

American funk, rock, R&B singer-songwriter and musician ("1999"; "Purple Rain"), dies from an accidental overdose of painkillers at 57

  • 2020 Florian Schneider, German musician (Kraftwerk), dies of cancer at 73