Musicians Who Died in 1980

Jimmy Durante (1893-1980)

Jan 29 American actor, comedian and singer known as "the schnozzola" (The Durante-Moore Show, Jimmy Durante Show), dies of pneumonia at 86

Jan 30 Professor Longhair [Henry Roeland Byrd], American boogie-woogie, New Orleans R&B, and mambo pianist and singer ("Tipitina": "Go To The Mardis Gras"), dies from a heart attack at 61
Feb 7 Ernst Kunz, Swiss composer, dies at 88
Feb 8 Nikos Xilouris, Greek folk singer-songwriter, dies of lung and brain cancer at 43
Feb 9 Charlie Fowlkes, American baritone saxophonist (Count Basie Orchestra, 1953-80), dies at 63
Feb 14 Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
Feb 17 Jerry Fielding, American jazz musician and composer (Lively Ones, Hogan's Heroes), dies at 57
Feb 18 Gale Robbins [Betty Gale Murphy], American singer and actress (Fuller Brush Girl, Mr Hex), dies of lung cancer at 58
Feb 19 (Clarence) "Shorty" Cherock, American swing jazz and big band trumpeter (Jimmy Dorsey; Gene Krupa; Nelson Riddle), dies at 64
Feb 19 (Ronald) "Bon" Scott, Australian rock musician, singer, and lyricist (AC/DC -"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)"), dies of acute alcohol poisoning at 33
Feb 21 Janet Vogel, American doo-wop soprano (Skyliners - “Since I Don’t Have You”), takes her own life at 37
Feb 28 Dinorá de Carvalho, Brazilian pianist, conductor, music educator and composer (Missa Profundis), dies at 75 (or 85, year of birth disputed)
Mar 1 John Jacob Niles, American composer and singer, dies at 87
Mar 13 Tauno Pylkkänen, Finnish opera composer dies at 61
Mar 17 Rudolf George Escher, Dutch composer (Vrai Visage de la Paix), dies at 68
Mar 21 Gideon Fagan, South African conductor and composer, dies at 75
Mar 25 Ioan Dumitru Chirescu, Romanian composer and conductor, dies at 91
Mar 25 Walter Susskind, Czech conductor and pianist, dies at 66
Mar 26 Jon-Jon Poulos, American drummer (Buckinghams), dies at 32
Mar 28 John Poulos, American drummer (The Buckinghams - "Kind Of A Drag"), dies of heart failure at 32
Mar 28 Richard "Dick" Haymes, Argentine-American actor and singer (State Fair, Real Life, Betrayal), dies of lung cancer at 61
Mar 29 Annunzio Mantovani, Italian orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 74
Apr 2 Pascual de Rogatis, Argentine composer (Huemac; Estampas Argentinas), dies at 99
Apr 4 Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine, American country music singer, dies following a heart attack leading to a car crash at 62
Apr 16 Morris Stoloff, American violinist, Academy Award-winning composer, music director (Columbia Pictures, 1938-62), and orchestra leader (Moonglow/Theme from Picnic), dies at 81

Jane Froman (1907-1980)

Apr 22 American singer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), dies at 72

Apr 28 (Francisco) "Chino" Pozo, Cuban-American latin jazz and Afro-Cuban drummer, bongosero and conguero, dies at 64
Apr 28 Tommy Caldwell, American rock bass player (Marshall Tucker Band), dies in a jeep crash at 30
Apr 30 Mary McCarty, American singer, dancer, stage and screen actress (Babes in Toyland; All That Jazz;, Trapper John, M.D.), dies of a heart attack at 56
May 12 Lillian Roth [Rutstein], American singer and actress (Animal Crackers; Alice Sweet Alice), dies at 69
May 14 Wilhelm Weismann, German composer, dies at 79
May 18 Ian Curtis, English rock vocalist (Joy Division), commits suicide at 23
May 30 Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (Derek and the Dominoes), dies of a kidney infection at 37
Jun 4 Charles Miller, American rock-funk flutist, saxophonist, and singer (War - "Why Can't We Be Friends?"; "Low Rider"), stabbed to death during a mugging in Los Angeles at 41
Jun 8 Ernst Busch, German singer and actor, dies at 80
Jun 20 Allan Pettersson, Swedish violist and composer (Symphony No. 7), dies at 68
Jun 21 Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader, songwriter ("Strangers in the Night"; "Danke Schoen"), and record producer (The Beatles first recordings), dies of a stroke at 56
Jun 27 Albany "Barney" Bigard, Creole-American jazz clarinetist (Duke Ellington Orchestra, 1927-42 - "Mood Indigo"), dies at 74
Jun 28 José Iturbi, Spanish concert pianist and conductor who appeared in nearly a dozen 1940s MGM musicals, dies at 84
Jun 28 Yoshiro Irino, Japanese composer, dies at 58
Jul 3 James "Buster" Bennett, American blues saxophonist and blues shouter, dies at 66
Jul 5 Archibald James Potter, Irish composer, dies at 61
Jul 9 Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and lyricist, dies at 66
Jul 11 Bolesław Woytowicz, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 80
Jul 15 Henri Martelli, French composer, dies at 85
Jul 23 Keith Godchaux, American pianist, and singer (Grateful Dead, 1971-79 - "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away"), dies in a car accident at 32
Jul 25 Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet, singer, and actor (b. 1938)
Jul 28 Cecil Burleigh, American violinist, composer (Sonnets of Autumn; Boyhood Recollections), and educator (University of Wisconsin, 1921-55), dies at 95
Jul 29 Jan Tausinger, Romanian-Czech violist and composer, dies at 58
Jul 30 Norman Lloyd, American pianist, author and composer, dies at 70
Jul 31 Bobby Van [Stein], American stage and screen musical singer and actor (The Affairs of Dobie Gillis; Small Town Girl), dies of brain cancer at 49
Jul 31 Mohammed Rafi, Indian playback singer and musician, dies of a massive heart attack at 55
Aug 18 Norman Cazden, American composer, educator, and music theorist, dies at 65
Aug 20 Joe Dassin, French-American singer (Les Champs-Élysées), dies at 41
Aug 24 Frederick A. Fox, American classical composer (Nightscenes; Shaking The Pumpkin),and educator (Indiana University, 1974-94), dies at 80
Aug 26 Jimmy Forrest, American jazz saxophonist (Night Train), dies at 60
Sep 2 William Douglas Denny, American composer, dies at 70
Sep 5 Don Banks, Australian orchestral, jazz, and film score composer, dies of leukemia at 56
Sep 11 Jose Antonio Calcano, Venezuelan composer, teacher, and choral director, dies at 80
Sep 15 Bill Evans, American jazz pianist ("Peace Piece"; "Waltz For Debbie"), dies of a bleeding ulcer at 51
Sep 21 Ernest White, Canadian organist, organ designer, and composer, dies at 79
Sep 21 Willem Ravelli, Dutch baritone singer (St Matthew Passion), dies at 88

John Bonham (1948-1980)

Sep 25 English rock drummer (Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"), dies from asphyxiation after heavy alcohol intake at 32

Oct 8 Maurice Martenot, French cellist, WWI radio telegrapher, and instrument inventor (ondes Martenot), dies at 81 [1]
Oct 13 Philip "Gabby" Pahinui, Hawaiian slack-key guitarist and singer, dies of a heart attack at 59
Oct 14 Oscar Alemán, Argentine jazz and swing guitarist, and singer ("Rosa Madreselva"), dies at 71
Oct 25 Virgil Fox, American organist, dies at 68
Oct 27 Steve Peregrin Took, English musician (Tyrannosaurus Rex), dies of a drug overdose at 31
Nov 12 Alexander Voormolen, Dutch composer and music librarian, dies at 85
Nov 16 O. V. [Overton Vertis] Wright, American blues singer, dies at 41
Nov 19 Andreas Nezertis, Greek composer, dies at 82

Mae West (1893-1980)

Nov 22 American stage and screen actress, writer (She Done Him Wrong; I'm No Angel), and singer (Way Out West), dies in Hollywood at 87

Dec 2 Richard Pindle Hammond, American composer dies at 83
Dec 7 Darby Crash, American Punk rocker (Germs), dies of an overdose at 22

John Lennon (1940-1980)

Dec 8 British musician, pop star and member of The Beatles (Imagine), shot and murdered outside of his home in NYC by Mark David Chapman at 40

Dec 11 Ignacio Prieto [Arrizubieta], Spanish composer, dies at 80
Dec 24 Alec Wilder, American classical, jazz, and pop music composer (The Churkendoose), and musicologist (American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950), dies at 73 [1]
Dec 24 Siggie Nordstrom, American singer (The Nordstrom Sisters), dies at 87
Dec 25 (Ludwig) "Louis" Neefs, Belgian pop singer (Eurovision, 1967 & 1969), dies, along with his wife, in a car accident at 43
Dec 26 (John) "Peck" Kelley, American jazz pianist and bandleader (Peck's Bad Boys), dies from complications of Parkinson's disease at 82
Dec 29 Tim Hardin, American singer (If I Were a Carpenter, Reason to Believe), dies of a drug overdose at 39