Musicians Who Died on August 12

  • 1588 Alfonso Ferrabosco, Italian composer who brought madrigal music to England, dies at 45
  • 1612 Giovanni Gabrieli, Italian composer (Madrigali), dies at about 60
  • 1633 Jacopo Peri, Italian composer and singer who wrote the 1st recognized opera "Dafne", dies at 71
  • 1797 Ignaz Franz Xaver Kürzinger, German violinist, composer, and Kapellmeister, dies at 73
  • 1812 Jean-Joseph Rodolphe, Alsatian composer, dies at 81
  • 1830 Franz de Paula Roser, Austrian composer and conductor, dies at 50
  • 1943 Georges Martin Witkowski, composer, dies at 76
  • 1967 (William) "Buster" Bailey, American jazz clarinetist (WC Handy; King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band; Fletcher Henderson; Noble Sissle; John Kirby), and bandleader, dies of a heart attack at 65
  • 1973 Perry Botkin, American jazz and session guitarist, banjo player, composer, and musical director (Bing Crosby), dies at 66
  • 1982 Helvi Leiviskä, Finnish composer, dies at 80
  • 1985 Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (Sukiyaki), and actor, dies in JAL 123 crash at 43
  • 1985 Marcel Mihalovici, French composer, dies at 86
  • 1988 Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
  • 1990 Piotr Perkowski, Polish composer, dies at 89
  • 1991 Irene Campbell, British actress/dancer (Wicker Man, St Justice), dies
  • 1992 John Cage, American composer (4′33″; Imaginary Landscape No 1/O'O), dies of a stroke at 79
  • 1994 Gene Cherico, American jazz bassist, dies at 59
  • 1997 Jack Delano [Jacob Ovcharov], Russian-born American composer and photographer, dies at 83
  • 1997 Luther Allison, American blues and session guitarist (Howlin' Wolf; James Cotton), dies of lung and brain cancer at 57
  • 2000 Patrick Peter Sacco, American composer, dies at 71
  • 2008 (June) "Christie" Allen, British-Australian pop singer (Goosebumps), dies of pancreatic cancer at 54
  • 2008 Donald Erb, American composer known for large orchestral works, dies at 81
  • 2009 Les Paul [Polsfuss], American guitarist, (How High The Moon), songwriter and inventor (solid-body electric guitar), dies at 94
  • 2010 Richie Hayward, American drummer (Little Feat), dies of liver cancer at 64
  • 2012 Mendelis Bašs, Latvian composer, conductor, and pedagogue, dies at 93

Lauren Bacall (1924-2014)

American actress and singer named the 20th greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema (Dark Passage, Key Largo), dies of a stroke at 89

  • 2015 John Scott, English organist and choirmaster, dies at 59
  • 2015 Per Hjort Albertsen, Norwegian organist, composer, and educator, dies at 96