Musicians Who Died in 1968

  • Jan 9 Louis Aubert, French composer (Habanera), dies at 90
  • Jan 10 Josue Teofilo Wilkes, Argentine composer, dies at 85
  • Feb 5 (Charles Luckyth) "Luckey" Roberts, stride pianist and composer, dies at 80-ish [various sources dispute birth year, 1887 to 1895] [1]
  • Feb 7 Stuart Foster, American singer (Galen Drake Show), dies at 49
  • Feb 13 Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer, dies at 87
  • Feb 15 Little Walter [Marion Walter Jacobs], American blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player, dies as the result of a fight at 37
  • Feb 16 (James) Healey Willan, British-Canadian organist, composer, and educator, dies at 87
  • Feb 27 Frankie Lymon, American pop singer (The Teenagers - "Why Do Fools Fall In Love"), dies of a heroin overdose at 25
  • Feb 27 Ludvik Podest, Czech composer, music journalist, and conductor dies at 46
  • Feb 28 Juanita Hall (née Long), American Tony Award winning stage and screen actress and singer (South Pacific; Flower Drum Song), dies from complications of diabetes at 66 [some sources give date as Feb. 29]
  • Mar 4 Alexandre Eugène Cellier, French organist and composer, dies at 84
  • Mar 6 Isa Krejci, Czech composer, dies at 63
  • Mar 16 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian composer, dies at 72
  • Mar 18 Manuel Gómez Carrillo, Argentine composer, dies at 85
  • Apr 15 Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer, conductor, and teacher, known as the father of modern Ukrainian music, dies at 73
  • Apr 20 Marion Weeks, American silent film actress, and Ziegfield Follies singer and dancer, dies of stroke at 81
  • Apr 21 Norman Demuth, British composer and musicologist specializing in French works, dies at 69
  • Apr 22 Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (Elvis) and label executive (RCA Victor, 1929-68), dies of a heart attack at 57
  • May 3 Leonid Sabaneyev, Russian composer, dies at 86
  • May 23 Merle Kendrick, orchestra leader (Window on the World), dies at 72
  • May 24 Bernard Rogers, American composer (The Warrior; Three Japanese Dances; To The Fallen), and pedagogue (Eastman School, 1929-67), dies at 75
  • May 26 William "Little Willie" John, American R&B singer ("Fever"; "Leave My Kitten Alone"), dies in prison while serving a sentence for manslaughter at 30
  • Jun 2 André Mathieu, Canadian pianist and composer (Concerto de Québec), dies at 39
  • Jun 10 Yury Sergeyevich Milyutin, Russian composer, dies at 65
  • Jun 12 Fidelio Friedrich Finke, Bohemian German composer, dies at 76
  • Jun 14 (Ernest) "Pop" Stoneman, American country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and autoharp player ("Sinking of the Titanic"; The Stoneman Family), dies at 75
  • Jun 14 Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Swedish composer (Facettes; Aniara), dies at 51
  • Jun 14 Ken Errair, American pop-jazz singer (Four Freshmen, 1953-55 - "Graduation Day"), dies in a chartered plane crash at 42
  • Jun 15 (John) "Wes" Montgomery, American influential jazz guitarist and Grammy Award winner, dies of a heart attack at 45
  • Jun 15 (Patrick) "Buddy" Attaway, American country and Cajun fiddler, and songwriter ("I'm Sitting On Top Of The World"), dies at 45
  • Jun 26 Ziggy Elman [Harry Finkelman], American big band jazz trumpeter (Benny Goodman - "And The Angels Sing"; Tommy Dorsey), bandleader, and klezmer musician, dies at 54
  • Jul 7 Leo Sowerby, American organist and composer (Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1946), dies at 73
  • Jul 20 Joseph Keilberth, German conductor (Bayreuther Festival), dies at 60
  • Jul 21 Ruth St. Denis, American modern dance pioneer and teacher (Dances of the 5 Senses), dies at 91
  • Jul 30 Jon Leifs, composer, dies at 69
  • Aug 5 Luther Perkins American country and rockabilly guitarist (The Tennessee Three), dies as a result of a house fire at 40
  • Aug 15 Edward Kilenyi, Sr. [Ede Kilényi], Hungarian-American composer and teacher (Clipped Wings; Outside the Law), dies at 84
  • Aug 16 (Robert) "Cutty" Cutshall, American jazz trombonist (Benny Goodman Orchestra; Eddie Condon), dies at 66
  • Aug 16 Luis Gianneo, Argentine pianist, organist, conductor, composer, and teacher, dies at 71
  • Aug 18 Arthur Marshall, American ragtime piano player and composer ("Swipesy Cakewalk" with Scott Joplin; "The Peach"), dies at 86
  • Aug 18 Cy Walter, American jazz pianist (Three's Company), dies of cancer at 52
  • Aug 24 (Edmond) "Doc" Souchon, American jazz guitarist, music journal writer and editor, and New Orleans jazz historical preservationist, dies at 70
  • Sep 1 Granville English, composer, dies at 69
  • Sep 5 Juan Jose Castro, Argentine composer and conductor, dies at 73
  • Sep 6 Karl Rankl, Austrian-born British composer and conductor (Covent Garden Opera Company), dies at 69
  • Sep 7 Thom Kelling, Dutch singer, guitarist, and bandleader (Programa de Manha), dies at 46
  • Sep 19 Red Foley, American country singer ("Mr Smith Goes to Washington"), dies at 58
  • Sep 20 Frank Pelleg [Pollack], Czech-Israeli harpsichordist, pianist, conductor and educator, dies at 57
  • Sep 24 Harry Robert Wilson, American composer, dies at 67
  • Sep 29 Eddie Wilcox, American jazz pianist, arranger, and bandleader (Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra), dies at 59
  • Oct 15 Franz Reizenstein, German-British pianist, composer, and educator (Concerto Popolare), dies at 57
  • Oct 25 Rudolf Forster, Austrian actor (Threepenny Opera), dies at 83
  • Oct 29 Marius Ulfrstad, Norwegian composer, dies at 78
  • Oct 31 Malcolm Hale, American musician (Spanky and Our Gang), dies of monoxide poisoning at 27
  • Nov 2 Ernst Hess, Swiss composer, dies at 56
  • Nov 6 Charles Münch, French violinist, and conductor (Boston Symphony, 1949-62; Orchestre de Paris, 1967-68), dies of a heart attack at 77
  • Nov 6 Guillaume Landré, Dutch composer, dies at 63
  • Nov 8 James "Kokomo" Arnold, American blues slide guitarist, and singer, dies at 67 [or 72]
  • Nov 9 Jan Johansson, Swedish jazz pianist, dies at 37
  • Nov 11 Jeanne Demessieux, French organist and composer (Te Deum), dies at 47
  • Nov 25 Marcel Labey, French conductor and composer, dies at 93
  • Nov 27 Gino Roncaglia, Italian composer, dies at 85
  • Nov 27 Hans Redlich, Austrian composer, dies at 65
  • Dec 1 Dario Moreno, Turkish-Jewish singer (b. 1921)
  • Dec 13 Siegfried Reda, German church musician and composer, dies at 52
  • Dec 20 Max Brod, Czech-born Israeli composer, writer and biographer of Kafka, dies at 84
  • Dec 31 George Lewis [Joseph Zenon], American jazz clarinetist and bandleader (Bunk Johnson; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; "Burgundy Street Blues"), dies at 68
  • Dec 31 Sabin Drăgoi, Romanian composer, dies at 74