- 1630 Ercole Porta, Italian composer, dies at 44
- 1758 François d'Agiçncourt, French composer (b. 1684)
- 1792 Hans Adolf Friedrich von Eschstruth, composer and lawyer, dies at 36
- 1793 Lorenzo Fago, Italian composer and teacher, dies at 88
- 1855 Henry Bishop, British composer and conductor, dies at 68
- 1887 Friedrich Wilhelm Markull, German composer and musician, dies at 71
- 1889 Carl Rosa, German-born violinist and composer (founder of the Rosa opera company that toured UK and US), dies at 47
- 1893 Gyula Beliczay, Hungarian pianist, composer, teacher, and engineer, dies at 57
- 1896 Antonio Cagnoni, Italian opera composer, dies at 68
- 1912 František Kmoch, Czech composer and conductor, dies at 63
- 1942 Catherine Murphy Urner, American composer, dies at 51
- 1943 Leo Smit, Dutch composer, dies in Sobibór extermination camp at 42
- 1952 Charles Radoux-Rogier, Belgian composer, dies at 74
- 1957 Ludwig Schiedermair, German musicologist (Beethoven), dies at 80
- 1959 Armand Marsick, Belgian composer, dies at 81
- 1966 Richard Fariña, American folk singer-songwriter ("Birmingham Sunday"), and novelist ("Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me"), dies in a motorcycle crash on his 29th birthday
- 1970 Hall Johnson, American composer (Hall Johnson Choir), dies at 82
- 1976 Edvard Fliflet Braein, Norwegian composer (Ut mot havet (Out To Sea); Anne Pedersdotter), dies at 51
- 1977 Clive Douglas, Australian composer (Kaditcha; Carwoola), conductor (Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1938-68, and educator, dies at 73
- 1980 Mary McCarty, American singer, dancer, stage and screen actress (Babes in Toyland; All That Jazz;, Trapper John, M.D.), dies of a heart attack at 56
- 1982 Lester Bangs, American music journalist (Creem; Rolling Stone), and musician (Birdland), dies of accidental cold medicine overdose at 33
George Balanchine (1904-1983)
Russian-American ballet composer and choreographer who founded the New York City Ballet, dies from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease at 79
Muddy Waters (1913-1983)
American blues singer and guitarist ("Mannish Boy"; "Got My Mojo Working"), dies of heart failure, while fighting cancer, at 70
- 1988 James McCracken, American operatic tenor (Otello), dies at 61
- 1999 Darrell Sweet, British hard rock drummer (Nazareth - "Love Hurts"), dies of a heart attack at a concert soundcheck at 51
- 2000 Bernhard Heiden [Levi], German-American composer (Dreamers on a Slack Wire; Euphorion), and music teacher (University of Indiana, 1945-74), dies at 89
- 2007 Grégory Lemarchal, French pop singer, dies of health complications while waiting for a lung transplant at 23
- 2007 Zoletta "Zola" Taylor, American pop singer (The Platters, 1954-62 - "The Great Pretender"; "Only You"; "Twilight Time"), dies at 69
- 2009 Ron Richards, British record producer (Gerry and The Pacemakers; The Hollies), dies at 80
- 2014 Leo Kraft, American composer, dies at 91
- 2015 Ben E. King [Nelson], American soul singer (Stand By Me), dies at 76
- 2015 Ronald Senator, British composer (Holocaust Requiem), and educator (Musicolor), dies in a house fire at 89
- 2016 Phil Ryan, Welsh keyboardist and composer (Man; Pete Brown), dies at 69
- 2018 Naresh Sohal, Indian-British composer (Gautama Buddha; The Cosmic Dance; The Divine Song), dies at 78
- 2019 (Rowland) "Boon" Gould, British rock guitarist (Level 42, 1979-87 - "Hot Water"), takes his own life at 64
- 2020 Tony Allen, Nigerian drummer who pioneered Afrobeat sound, dies of an aortic aneurysm at 79
- 2021 Anthony Payne, British composer (Phoenix Mass; Visions and Journeys), critic, and musicologist, dies at 84
- 2022 (Diana) "Naomi" Judd, American Grammy Award-winning country singer (The Judds - "Why Not Me"), dies of a self-inflicted gunshot at 76
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide