- Oct 6 Arnold Maria Walter, Canadian composer, dies at 71
- Oct 9 Sister Rosetta Tharpe [Nubin], American gospel and R&B singer, songwriter, and electric guitarist ("This Train"; "Down By The Riverside"), dies of a stroke at 58
- Oct 16 Gene Krupa, American jazz and swing drummer ("Sing, Sing, Sing"), dies of heart failure while battling leukemia and emphysema at 64 [1]
- Oct 22 Pablo Casals [Pau Casals i Defilló], Spanish cellist, conductor and composer, dies at 96
- Oct 29 Heathcote Dicken Statham, English organist, composer, and conductor, dies at 83
- Oct 30 Ernst-Lothar von Knorr, German composer, and music educator, dies at 77
- Oct 31 Lucha Reyes 'Morena de Oro', Peruvian singer (Siempre criolla), dies of a heart attack at 37 [1]
Country Singers
Jazz Singers
Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers