- Dec 1 Nick Kenny, American columnist and songwriter (Nick Kenny Show), dies at 80
- Dec 8 Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep, 1972-75), dies of respiratory failure due to a heroin overdose, at 27
- Dec 9 Frank Signorelli, American swing jazz pianist (Original Dixieland Jazz Band; Joe Venuti's Blue Four), and songwriter (Stairway to the Stars), dies at 74
- Dec 11 Lee Wiley, American jazz singer (Night in Manhattan), dies at 67
- Dec 15 Mukhtar Ashrafi, Soviet-Uzbek composer, dies at 63
- Dec 17 Hound Dog Taylor [Theodore Roosevelt], American Chicago blues guitarist and singer, dies of lung cancer at 60
- Dec 17 Noble Sissle, American jazz composer, singer, lyricist and playwright (Shuffle Along; "I'm Just Wild About Harry"), dies at 86
- Dec 24 Bernard Herrmann [Maximillian Herman], American radio and Academy Award-winning film score composer (Mercury Theatre on the Air; Citizen Kane; Vertigo; Psycho; Taxi Driver), and conductor, bdies of a heart attack at 64
- Dec 31 Donal Michalsky, American composer, dies in a fire at 47
Country Singers
Jazz Singers
Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers