- Jan 2 Piotr Rytel, Polish composer, dies at 85
- Jan 5 Roberto Gerhard, Spanish Catalan composer (The Plague), dies of heart disease at 73
- Jan 15 Vytautas Bacevičius [Bacewicz], Lithuanian avant garde composer (Della Guerra Symphony), dies at 64
- Jan 17 Billy Stewart, American singer ("I Do Love You"), dies in auto-accident at 32
- Jan 17 Simon Kovar, Russian-American bassoonist (b. 1890)
- Jan 24 James "Shep" Shepherd, American R&B singer-songwriter (The Heartbeats - "One Thousand Miles"; Shep & Limelites - "Daddy's Home"), beaten to death in a robbery at 34
- Jan 25 Jane Bathori, French mezzo-soprano, dies at 92
- Jan 31 Slim Harpo [James Moore], American blues musician (I'm a King Bee, Baby Scratch My Back), dies of a heart attack at 46
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