- Jan 6 Jose Enrique Pedreira, Puerto Rican composer ("Tus Caricias"; "Siempre"), and pedagogue, dies at 54
- Jan 9 Edwin A. Fleisher, American music patron (founder of the Symphony Club), musicologist (The Fleisher Collection), and philanthropist, dies at 71 [1]
- Jan 21 Lamar Stringfield, American composer, dies at 61
- Jan 28 Viktor Josef Keldorfer, Austrian composer, dies at 85
Buddy Holly (1936-1959)
Feb 3 American rock and roll musician and songwriter ("Peggy Sue"; "That'll Be the Day"; "Words Of Love"), dies in a plane crash at 22 [1]
- Feb 3 Ritchie Valens [Valenzuela], American rock singer ("Donna"; "La Bamba"), dies in plane crash at 17
- Feb 3 The Big Bopper [Jiles Perry Richardson], American radio disc jockey, singer and songwriter (Chantilly Lace; White Lightning), dies in plane crash at 28
- Feb 5 Curt Sachs, German musicologist, dies at 77
- Feb 7 Guitar Slim [Eddie Jones], American blues guitarist (The Things That I Used to Do), dies at 32
- Feb 12 George Antheil, American pianist, avant garde composer (Airplane Sonata; Ballet Mécanique), and inventor, dies at 58
- Feb 13 William Axt, American film scores composer (The Prisoner of Zenda), dies at 70
- Feb 14 Warren "Baby" Dodds, American jazz drummer, dies at 60
- Feb 18 Alfred Alessandrescu, Romanian composer, dies at 65
- Feb 18 Eric Zeisl, Austrian-American composer (Requiem Ebraico), dies of a heart attack at 53
- Feb 18 Jaroslav Kvapil, Czech composer, dies at 66
- Feb 20 Ray McDonald, American stage and screen tap dancer, dies choking on food at 38
- Mar 11 Haydn Wood, English violinist, and composer of light classical music (Roses of Picardy), dies at 76
- Mar 15 Lester Young, American jazz musician, dies at 49
- Mar 17 Raffaele d'Alessandro, Swiss pianist, organist, and composer, dies of a ruptured aorta on his 48th birthday
- Mar 25 Billy Mayerl, British pianist, music hall songwriter, theatre composer (Marigold), music publisher, and teacher (School of Syncopation), dies of a heart attack at 55
- Mar 29 Sara Wennerberg-Reuter, Swedish composer, dies at 84
- Apr 12 Ernest Willem Mulder, Dutch conductor, composer, and teacher, dies at 60
- Apr 13 Eduard van Beinum, Dutch musician and conductor, dies at 58
- Apr 24 Jef van Hoof, Flemish composer, dies at 72
- Apr 30 Armand Marsick, Belgian composer, dies at 81
- May 8 Renato Caccioppoli, Italian mathematician and pianist, takes his own life at 55
- May 14 Sidney Bechet, American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer ("Petite Fleur"), dies of lung cancer on his 62nd birthday
- May 30 Thomas Carl Whitmer, American composer, dies at 85
- Jun 3 Ole Windingstad, Norwegian conductor (Brooklyn's Scandinavian Symphony Orchestra, 1913-39), pianist and composer, dies after a heart attack at 73
- Jun 23 Boris Vian, French writer and musician (b. 1920)
- Jun 23 Jean Gallon, French composer, dies at 80
- Jun 30 Lazare Saminsky, Russian-American composer, dies at 76
- Jul 11 (Rossiere) "Shadow" Wilson, American jazz drummer (Thelonious Monk), dies of meningitis at 39
Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)
Jul 15 Swiss-American composer (Schelomo; Israel; Avodath Hakodesh), and educator (UC Berkeley, 1941-52), dies of cancer at 78
Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
Jul 17 American jazz singer ("I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"; "Strange Fruit"), and songwriter ("God Bless The Child"; "Lady Sings the Blues"), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 44
- Jul 20 Harry Fox [Arthur Carringford], American vaudeville dancer, comedian and actor (Talent Scout), dies at 77
- Aug 2 Prospero Bisquertt, Chilean composer, dies at 78
- Aug 7 Armas Launis, Finnish composer, dies at 75
- Aug 9 Emil František Burian, Czech author and composer, dies at 55
- Aug 13 Henri Garat [Garascu], French actor (Congress Dances), and singer ("Les dieux s'amusent"), dies at 57
- Aug 15 "Blind" Willie McTell [McTier], American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist, dies at 61
- Aug 16 Pedro Humberto Allende Saron, Chilean composer (Tonados), dies at 74
- Aug 16 Wanda Landowska, Polish-French harpsichordist (Musique Ancienne), dies at 80
- Aug 28 Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (Hry o Marti), dies at 68
- Sep 9 Max d'Ollone, French composer and writer (Le Ménestrel), dies at 84
- Sep 22 Josef Matthias Hauer, Austrian composer and music theorist, dies at 76
- Sep 25 Ennio Porrino, Italian composer, dies at 49
- Sep 28 Gerard Hoffnung, German-British artist, humorist and tuba player (Hoffnung Music Festival), dies at 34
- Oct 7 Mario Lanza [Alfredo Arnold Cocozza], Italian-American actor and singer (Great Caruso, Toast of New Orleans), dies of a heart attack at 38
- Oct 13 Rudolf Mengelberg, Dutch composer and musicologist (Concert Amsterdam), dies at 67
- Oct 19 Stanley Bate, English composer, dies at 45
- Oct 28 Egon Kornauth, Austrian classical pianist, composer, and teacher, dies at 68
- Nov 3 Friedrich Niggli, Swiss composer (Buechfinkeliedli; Nach dem Regen), dies at 83
- Nov 9 Frederick Preston Search, American cellist, composer and conductor (Bridge Builders), dies at 70
- Nov 17 Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer, cellist, guitarist, and conductor (Bachianas Brasileiras), dies at 72
- Nov 22 Sam M. Lewis [Levine] American singer and lyricist ("Street of Dreams"; "Just Friends"; "Dinah"), dies at 74
- Nov 26 Albert Ketèlbey, British composer (In a Monastery Garden), dies at 84
- Nov 29 Fritz Brun, Swiss composer and conductor, dies at 81
- Dec 4 Rosetta Duncan, American vaudevillian (Duncan Sisters), actress (Topsy and Eva), and songwriter (Remeberin'). dies in an auto accident at 65
- Dec 29 Robin Milford, English composer, commits suicide at 56
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers