- Dec 4 Tommy Bolin, American rock guitarist and songwriter (Deep Purple), dies of heroin and other substances overdose at 25
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Dec 4 English composer (The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Peter Grimes), dies of heart failure at 63
- Dec 12 John "Jack" Cassidy, American stage and screen actor and Grammy Award-winning singer (Shangri-La; The Eiger Sanction: She Loves Me; Columbo), dies in an apartment fire at 49
- Dec 12 Vinko Zganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
- Dec 28 Freddie King, American blues singer (Hideaway), dies at 42
Country Singers
Jazz Singers
Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers