Musicians Who Died in 1983

Mar 6 Cathy Berberian, American mezzo-soprano and composer (Stripsody), dies of a heart attack at 57
Mar 7 Igor Markevitch, Russian composer and conductor (Le Paradis Perdu), dies at 70
Mar 8 William Walton, English composer (Troilus & Cressida; Belhazzar's Feast), dies at 80
Mar 11 Lurlean Hunter, American jazz singer, dies at 63
Mar 17 Ray Barr, American pianist (Vincent Lopez Show), dies at 70
Mar 23 David Wynne, Welsh composer (Owain ab Urien), dies at 82
Mar 27 Jānis Ivanovs, Latvian composer, and pedagogue, dies at 76
Apr 1 Ken Kersey, Canadian jazz pianist, and composer ("Boogie Woogie Cocktail"), dies at 66
Apr 1 Marc Vaubourgoin, French composer, conductor, and musicologist, dies at 76
Apr 3 Danny Rapp, American pop singer (Danny & The Juniors - "At The Hop"), takes his own life at 41
Apr 5 Cliff Carlisle, American country and blues musician, singer, songwriter, and yodeler ("Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad"), dies at 79
Apr 14 Elisabeth Lutyens, English composer, dies at 76

Pete Farndon (1952-1983)

Apr 14 English rock bassist (The Pretenders - "Brass In Pocket"), drowns in his bathtub after a drug overdose at 30

Apr 14 Willem Frederik Bon, Dutch composer (Les Prédictions) and pedagogue, dies at 42
Apr 17 Felix Pappalardi, American rock music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist (Mountain - "Mississippi Queen"), shot and killed by his wife, Gail, at 43
Apr 22 Earl "Fatha" Hines, American jazz pianist and bandleader (Deep Forest), dies at 79
Apr 26 Bronislaw Kaper, Polish-American Academy Award-winning film composer (Green Dolphin Street; Lili; The Brothers Karamazov), dies at 81
Apr 28 Charlie LaVere [Johnson], American jazz pianist, arranger, bandleader (Chicago Loopers), and composer (Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue), dies at 72

George Balanchine (1904-1983)

Apr 30 Russian-American ballet composer and choreographer who founded the New York City Ballet, dies from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease at 79

Muddy Waters (1913-1983)

Apr 30 American blues singer and guitarist ("Mannish Boy"; "Got My Mojo Working"), dies of heart failure, while fighting cancer, at 70

May 3 Armando José Fernandes, Portuguese neoclassical composer, dies at 76
May 4 Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor (La Fenice) and composer, dies at 72
May 6 Kai Winding, Danish-American Jazz musician and trombonist ("Georgia On My Mind"), dies of a brain tumor at 60
May 16 Carel Brons, Dutch composer, dies at 52
May 21 Finn Einar Mortensen, Norwegian composer, music critic, and educator, dies at 61
May 27 (Arnoldus) Arnold van Wyk, South African concert pianist and composer (Nagmusiek - Night Music), dies at 67
Jun 2 Donald Gramm, American concert and opera bass-baritone, dies of a heart attack at 56
Jun 2 Stan Rogers, Canadian folk musician and songwriter, dies in aircraft fire at 33
Jun 7 Daniele Amfitheatrof [Amfiteatrov], Russian-Italian pianist, conductor, and composer of concert and Hollywood film score music (American Panorama; The Naked Jungle), dies at 81
Jun 17 Peter Mennin [Mennini], American composer (Moby Dick; The Cycle), and educator (Juilliard, 1962-83), dies of cancer at 60
Jun 18 Luther Tucker, American blues guitarist, dies of a heart attack at 57
Jun 25 Alberto Evaristo Ginastera, Argentine composer (Panambi), dies at 67
Jun 26 Walter O'Keefe, songwriter, radio and TV host (Mayor of Hollywood), dies of congestive heart failure at 82
Jun 30 Bo Gentry [Robert Ackoff] American songwriter ("Mony, Mony"), and record producer (Tommy James), dies at 41
Jul 1 Sandy Mosse, American jazz tenor saxophonist, and bandleader (Pieces of Eight), dies at 54
Jul 4 Claus Adam, American composer and cellist (Juilliard Quartet), dies at 65
Jul 5 Harry James, American swing-era bandleader, trumpeter and husband to Betty Grable, dies from lymphatic cancer at 67
Jul 5 Václav Trojan, Czech composer, dies at 76
Jul 10 Werner Egk, German composer (Die Zaubergeige), dies at 82
Jul 12 Chris Wood, British rock saxophone and flute player (Traffic; Ginger Baker's Air Force, Jimi Hendrix), dies of pneumonia at 39
Jul 12 Edwin Denby, American dance critic and poet (Snoring in N, Horse Eats Hat), dies at 80
Jul 17 Roosevelt Sykes, American blues and boogie-woogie pianist, and singer ("The Honeydripper"), dies of a heart attack at 77
Jul 23 Georges Auric, French composer (one of Les Six), dies at 84
Jul 25 Jerome Moross, American composer (Frankie & Johnny), dies at 69
Jul 30 Howard Dietz, American lyricist and librettist ("Dancing In The Dark"; "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans"), and MGM executive, dies of Parkinson's disease at 86
Aug 1 "Wild Bill" Moore, American R&B and jazz tenor saxophone player ("We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll": Marvin Gaye's "Mercy, Mercy Me"), dies at 65
Aug 2 James Jamerson, American session bass guitarist (Motown Records' "Funk Brothers"), dies of alcohol-related complications at 47
Aug 6 Klaus Nomi [Sperber], German new wave singer, and performance artist, dies of AIDS at 39

Ira Gershwin (1896-1983)

Aug 17 American lyricist ("Embraceable You"; "I Got Rhythm"; "They Can't Take That Away From Me"), dies in Beverly Hills at 86

Sep 5 Antonio Mairena, Spanish flamenco singer (b. 1909)
Sep 7 Hans Münch, Swiss conductor and composer, dies at 90
Sep 15 Johnny Hartman, American jazz ballad singer (John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - "My One And Only Love"), dies of lung cancer at 60
Sep 15 Prince Far I [Michael Williams], Jamaican reggae deejay, producer and Rastafarian, killed during a robberya t his home at 38-ish
Sep 15 Willie Bobo [Correa], American jazz percussionist ("Evil Ways"), dies of cancer at 49
Sep 24 Isobel Baillie, Scottish oratorio singer, dies at 88
Sep 26 Tino Rossi, French singer and actor (Destins, Belle Menuniere), dies at 76
Sep 30 Adele Sebastian, American jazz flute player and vocalist (The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra), dies of kidney failure at 27
Sep 30 Freddy Martin, American orchestra leader (started Merv Griffin) and tenor saxophonist, dies at 76
Sep 30 William Elliott, American actor (Bridget Loves Bernie - "Otis"; Adam-12- "Officer Grant"), and jazz drummer, dies at 49
Oct 2 Gerald Strang, American classical and electronic music composer, dies at 75
Oct 16 George Liberace, American violinist (The Liberace Show), dies of leukemia at 72
Oct 16 Øivin Fjeldstad, Norwegian conductor and composer, dies at 80
Oct 20 Merle Travis, American country singer, dies at 75
Oct 25 Hermann Ambrosius, German composer, dies at 86
Oct 29 Sten Broman, Swedish composer, dies at 81
Nov 1 Anthony van Hoboken, Dutch musicologist (Haydn Catalog), dies at 96
Nov 3 Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American Emmy Award-winning conductor (CBS Symphony; Columbia Pan-American Orchestra), and composer (The Great City), dies during heart surgery at 82
Nov 3 Bob Scholte, Dutch vocalist, dies at 81
Nov 6 Robert Gross, American composer and violinist, dies at 69
Nov 7 David Alexandrovich Toradze, Soviet composer, dies at 61
Nov 7 Germaine Tailleferre [Taillefesse], French composer (Le Marin du Bolivar; L'adieu du cavalier), dies at 91
Nov 12 Preston Jackson [James Preston McDonald], American jazz trombonist (Preservation Hall Jazz Band), dies at 81
Nov 13 Alvin "Junior" Samples, American comedian and country singer (Hee Haw), dies of a heart attack at 57
Nov 19 Tom Evans, British rock guitarist, bass player, and singer-songwriter (Badfinger - "Come and Get It"; "Without You": "Maybe Tomorrow"), commits suicide at 36
Nov 25 Anton Dolin [Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-kay], British dancer (Girl From Petrovka), dies at 79
Dec 2 Fifi D'Orsay [Yvonne Lussier] Canadian-American vaudeville and film actress and singer known as the "French Bombshell" (The Life Jimmy Dolan; Dixie Jamboree), dies from cancer at 79
Dec 6 Lucienne Boyer, French singer (Parlez-moi d'amour), dies at 82
Dec 11 Szymon Laks, Polish composer (head of prisoners orchestra at Auschwitz), dies at 82
Dec 15 Jimmy McLin, American jazz banjo player, and guitarist (James P. Johnson; Willie "The Lion" Smith; The Ink Spots), dies at 75
Dec 15 “Big Chief” Russell Moore, Pima-American jazz trombonist (Lionel Hampton; Louis Armstrong), and composer ("Wounded Knee Chant"), dies at 70
Dec 27 Walter Scott, American singer (Bob Kuban), murdered at 40
Dec 28 Dennis Wilson, American drummer and singer (Beach Boys), drowns at 39