- Jan 1 Roland Hayes, American lyric tenor, arranger, and composer, dies at 89
- Jan 9 Alexey Fedorovich Kozlovsky, Russian composer, dies at 71
- Jan 18 Paul Nordoff, American composer (Every Soul Is a Circus), and music therapist (Nordoff-Robbins method), dies at 67
- Jan 18 Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at 81
- Jan 21 John Vincent, American composer, dies at 74
- Jan 21 Zoltan Vasarhelyi, composer, dies at 76
- Jan 23 Dick Burnett, American musician ("Man of Constant Sorrow"), dies at 93
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