Musicians Who Died in 1971

  • Jan 8 Adriano Lualdi, Italian composer (Il diavolo nel campanile), and conductor, dies at 85
  • Jan 9 Giannis Christou, Greek composer (b. 1926)
  • Jan 13 Henri Tomasi, French conductor, classical and film music composer (Requiem for Peace; The Silence of the Sea), dies at 69
  • Jan 13 Robert Still, English composer, dies at 60
  • Jan 14 Ethel Glenn Hier, American composer, dies at 82
  • Jan 19 Harry Shields, American musician (b. 1899)
  • Feb 7 Morgan Lee "Dock" Boggs, American folk and blues singer and banjo player, dies on his 73rd birthday
  • Feb 15 Marian Koval, Soviet Russian composer, dies at 63
  • Feb 20 Alexander Tsfasman, Soviet Russian jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, dies at 64
  • Feb 21 Adolph Weiss, American bassoonist and composer, dies at 79
  • Feb 22 Rudolf Mauersberger, German choral conductor and composer (Dresdner Requiem), dies at 82
  • Feb 26 Josef Berg, Czech composer, and librettist dies at 43
  • Mar 5 Winnie Lightner [Winifred Reeves], American vaudeville stage and screen actress, and singer (Gold Diggers of Broadway; Gold Dust Gertie; Sit Tight), dies at 71
  • Mar 6 Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor, dies at 49
  • Mar 7 Harold McNair, British-Jamaican calypso and jazz saxophonist and flautist, dies of lung cancer at 39
  • Mar 9 Jean-Pierre Guézec, French composer (Colorful Architectures), dies of a heart attack at 36
  • Mar 10 Mabel Wheeler Daniels, American composer (Deep Forest, The Desolate City), dies at 92
  • Mar 13 Piero Coppola, Italian conductor, artistic director (La Voix de son Maître (The Gramophone Company - France), 1923-34). pianist, and composer, dies at 82
  • Mar 21 Nan Wynn [Masha Vatz], American radio and big-band singer (Rudy Vallée; Teddy Wilson), actress (Pardon My Sarong), and singing voice for Rita Hayworth, dies of cancer at 55 [1]
  • Mar 23 Armin Loos, German-born American composer, dies at 67
  • Mar 28 Felix Wolfes, German-American conductor, educator (New England Conservatory, 1948-68), and composer, dies at 78
  • Mar 31 Alfred Desenclos, French composer, mostly of liturgical works (Messe de Requiem), and teacher, dies at 59
  • Apr 1 Baby Face Willette [Roosevelt Willet], American hard bop and soul-jazz Hammond organ player, dies of bronchial pneumonia at 37
  • Apr 5 Earl "Jock" Caruthers American jazz saxophonist (Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, 1932-47), dies at 60

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)

Apr 6 Russian composer (Le Sacre du Printemps - The Rite of Spring; The Firebird), dies of pneumonia at 88

  • Apr 12 Wynton Kelly, American jazz pianist (Dizzy Gillespie; Miles Davis), dies of epileptic seizure at 39
  • Apr 17 Carmen Lombardo, Canadian musician, dies at 67
  • Apr 17 Roberto Lupi, Italian composer, dies at 62
  • Apr 18 Masao Ohki, Japanese composer (Idea of the Night; Hiroshima Symphony), dies of cancer at 69
  • Apr 24 Lennie Hayton, American pianist, composer, conductor and arranger (Paul Whiteman; Bing Crosby; MGM), dies at of heart attack at 63
  • Apr 25 Max Drischner, German organist, harpsichordist, kantor, and composer, dies at 80
  • May 10 Mihail Jora, Romanian composer, dies at 79
  • May 10 Shukichi Mitsukuri, Japanese composer (10 Haikai de Basho), dies at 75
  • May 13 Valerian Mikhaylovich Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Russian composer, dies 67
  • May 19 Bernard Wagenaar, Dutch-American composer (3 Songs for Chinese), dies at 76
  • May 22 Frank Ottersen, Norwegian jazz violinist and saxophonist (Ding, Dong, Dang), dies at 50
  • May 25 Mark Brunswick, American composer, dies at 69
  • May 29 Max Trapp, German composer, dies at 83
  • May 30 Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer, dies at 85
  • Jun 6 Arnold Elston, American composer, and educator, dies at 63
  • Jun 9 Harold Lloyd Jr, American actor (Frankenstein's Daughter), cabaret singer, and son of famous silent film actor Harold Lloyd, Sr., dies of a complications from a stroke at 40
  • Jun 23 Walter Schulthess, Swiss composer, dies at 76
  • Jun 26 Guillermo Uribe Holguin, composer, dies at 91
  • Jun 26 Inia Te Wiata, opera singer, dies
  • Jun 26 Juan Manen, composer, dies at 88
  • Jun 29 Néstor Mesta Cháyres, Mexican lyric tenor, dies of a heart attack ay 63
  • Jul 2 Edward Ballantine, American composer and music professor, dies at 84

Jim Morrison (1943-1971)

Jul 3 American singer-songwriter (The Doors) and poet, dies of heart failure allegedly caused be an accidental heroin overdose at 27

  • Jul 4 Don McPherson, American R&B singer (The Main Ingredient - "Everybody Plays the Fool"), dies of leukemia at 29

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)

Jul 6 American jazz trumpeter and singer (Hello Dolly; What A Wonderful World), dies of a heart attack at 69

  • Jul 8 Charlie Shavers, American jazz trumpet player, dies at 50
  • Jul 17 Cliff Edwards "Ukulele Ike", American singer (54th Street Revue; "When You Wish Upon a Star"), dies at 76
  • Jul 24 Alan Rawsthorne, English composer, dies at 66
  • Jul 25 Leroy Robertson, American pianist, composer ("Oratorio from the Book of Mormon"; "Trilogy for Orchestra"), and educator (Brigham Young, 1925-48; University of Utah, 1948-62), dies at 74
  • Jul 27 Bernhard Paumgartner, Austrian conductor, composer, and musicologist, dies at 83
  • Aug 5 Josef Stanislav, Czech composer, and pedagogue, dies at 74
  • Aug 7 (Henry) "Homer" Haynes, American country music comedian and guitarist (Homer & Jethro - "The Battle of Kookamonga"), dies of a heart attack at 51
  • Aug 13 King Curtis [Ousley], American Grammy Award-winning R&B, rock, jazz, and session saxophonist bandleader ("Memphis Soul Stew"; Aretha Franklin; John Lennon), murdered during an argument with a vagrant outside of his NYC home at 37
  • Aug 15 Thomas Wayne, American rockabilly singer ("Tragedy"), dies in a car accident at 31
  • Aug 23 Gisela Hernández [Gonzalo], Cuban composer (Diálogo), and music educator, dies at 58
  • Aug 25 Ted Lewis [Theodore Leopold Friedman], American entertainer, bandleader and musician (Is Everybody Happy?), dies of lung failure at 81
  • Aug 26 Francesco Santoliquido, Italian composer, dies at 88
  • Aug 27 Lillian "Lil" Hardin Armstrong, American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, dies at 73
  • Sep 3 David Street [Patrick Devlin], American actor and singer (Moonrise; I Surrender Dear; Broadway Open House), dies of cancer at 53
  • Sep 22 Yvonne St Clair, American dancer, dies at 57
  • Oct 2 Bola de Nieve [Ignacio Jacinto Villa Fernández], Cuban singer, pianist and songwriter, dies at 60
  • Oct 3 Seán Ó Riada [John Reidy], Irish composer (Mise Éire), traditional music revivalist, and bandleader (Ceoltóirí Chualann), dies at 40
  • Oct 8 Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman, Dutch composer, dies at 79
  • Oct 12 Gene Vincent [Vincent Eugene Craddock], American rock guitarist and vocalist ("Be-Bop-A-Lula"), dies of bleeding ulcers at 36
  • Oct 24 Carl Ruggles, American composer (Evocations), dies at 95
  • Oct 24 Fernand Quinet, Belgian composer, cellist and conductor (La Guerre), dies at 73
  • Oct 28 Yves de La Casiniere, French composer, dies at 74
  • Oct 29 Duane Allman, American rock guitarist (The Allman Brothers Band), dies in a motorcycle accident at 24
  • Oct 30 Osvald Chlubna, Czech organist, composer, and musicologist, dies at 78
  • Nov 18 (Herman) "Junior" Parker, American blues and soul singer and musician (Mystery Train), dies during brain tumor surgery at 39
  • Nov 22 (Edward Elzear) "Zez" Confrey, American jazz pianist and composer ("Kitten on the Keys"; "Dizzy Fingers."), dies from complications of Parkinson's disease at 76
  • Nov 27 Jekabs Medinš, Latvian composer, dies at 86
  • Nov 28 Alexander "Papa" Lightfoot, American blues singer and harmonica player, dies of respiratory failure at 47
  • Nov 29 Heinz Tiessen, German composer, dies at 84
  • Dec 6 Hugo Godron, Dutch composer, dies at 71
  • Dec 22 Fred Guy, American jazz banjo player and guitarist (Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra; Duke Ellington's Washingtonians), dies at 74
  • Dec 23 Carlo Jachino, Italian composer, dies at 84
  • Dec 25 Byron Arnold, American composer, dies at 70
  • Dec 28 Max Steiner, Austrian composer (Gone With The Wind), dies at 83
  • Dec 30 Jan Mul, Dutch composer, dies at 60