Musicians Who Died in 1984

Jackie Wilson (1934-1984)

Jan 21 American soul singer-songwriter and performer ("Lonely Teardrops"; "Higher And Higher": "I Get the Sweetest Feeling"), dies from stroke complications at 49

Jan 23 Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer, dies at 67
Jan 23 Samuel Gardner, American composer, dies at 92
Jan 30 Luke Kelly, Irish folk music singer and banjo player (The Dubliners), dies at 43
Feb 9 (Tanjore) Balasaraswathi, Indian classical dancer, dies at 65

Ethel Merman (1908-1984)

Feb 15 American Tony and Grammy Award-winning stage and screen singer ("There's No Business Like Show Business"), and actress (It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), dies of brain cancer at 76

Feb 19 Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), dies at 80
Feb 19 Ina Ray Hutton [Odessa Cowan], American singer and big band bandleader (Ina Ray Hutton Show), dies of complications from diabetes at 67
Feb 20 Fikret Amirov, Azerbaijani-Soviet composer (Azerbaijan Capriccio, Shur), dies at 61
Mar 4 Shalva Mikhailovich Mshvelidze, Russian composer, dies at 79
Mar 5 Harry Salter, orchestra leader (Stop the Music), dies at 85
Mar 5 Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (Scarpia in Tosca), dies at 70
Mar 6 Pierre Cochereau, French composer, dies at 59
Mar 11 Kostas Roukounas, Greek rembetiko singer and songwriter, dies at about 81 (b. 1903)
Mar 16 Evencio Castellanos, Venezuelan pianist, and composer, dies at 68
Mar 18 Paul Frances Webster, lyricist, dies of Parkinson's disease at 76
Mar 28 Carmen Dragon, American composer and conductor (Hollywood Bowl Symphony), dies of cancer at 69
Apr 1 Chepín [Electo Rosell], Cuban violinist, bandleader, and composer (Orquesta Chepín-Chovén), dies at 76

Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)

Apr 1 American soul singer-songwriter ("It Takes Two"; What's Going On"; "Let's Get It On"), shot to death by his father Marvin Gay, Sr., during a domestic dispute in Los Angeles at 44

Apr 3 Antanas Račiūnas, Lithuanian composer and pedagogue, dies at 78
Apr 6 Jimmy Kennedy, Irish singer-songwriter ("Teddy Bears' Picnic"; "My Prayer"), dies at 81
Apr 6 Ral Donner, singer/narrator, dies at 41
Apr 11 Fred Robinson, American jazz trombonist (Louis Armstong's Hot Five; Fats Waller; Cab Calloway), dies at 83
Apr 13 George Fierstone, British jazz and session drummer, (The Skyrockets), dies at 67
Apr 13 Ralph Kirkpatrick, American musician, musicologist and harpsichordist (Domenico Scarlatti), dies at 72
Apr 15 Machito [Francisco "Frank" Grillo], Latin jazz musician and creator of Cu-bop and salsa music (Afro-Cubans), dies following a stroke at 76
Apr 20 Mabel Mercer, British jazz and cabaret singer whose style and phrasing influenced Frank Sinatra ("Fly Me to the Moon"), dies at 84
Apr 23 (William) "Red" Garland, American jazz pianist (Miles Davis Quintet), dies of a heart attack at 60
Apr 23 Juan Tizol, Puerto Rican jazz trombonist (Duke Ellington), and composer ("Caravan"; "Perdido"), dies at 84

Count Basie (1904-1984)

Apr 26 Jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader ("One O'Clock Jump"; "April In Paris"), dies of pancreatic cancer at 79

Apr 26 Barry Gray [John Livesey Eccles], British pianist, ondist, Hammond organ player, film and television composer (Thunderbirds; Space:1999), dies at 75
Apr 28 Moses "Whispering" Smith, American blues harmonica player and singer ("A Thousand Miles From Nowhere"; "Hound Dog Twist"), dies at 52
May 1 Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 73
May 4 Diana Dors [Fluck], British actress and singer (Berserk!; Steaming), dies of cancer at 52
May 4 Larry Stock, American singer-songwriter ("Blueberry Hill"; "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You"), dies at 87
May 10 Jean-Louis Viale, French jazz drummer, dies at 51
May 25 Piet Ketting, Dutch pianist, conductor and composer, dies at 79
Jun 1 Nate Nelson, American singer (Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You), dies at 52
Jun 2 Georgios Kasassoglou, Greek violinist, composer (Four Preludes on The Return from The Front; Clouds), educator and arts advocate, dies at 75
Jun 8 Gordon Jacob, British composer, dies at 88
Jun 13 António Variações [António Joaquim Rodrigues Ribeiro], Portuguese singer-songwriter (Dar & Receber), dies at 39 of AIDS-related pneumonia complications
Jun 13 Marinus de Jong, Dutch composer, dies at 92
Jun 15 Meredith Willson, American composer for stage (The Music Man), and screen (The Great Dictator; Little Foxes), dies at 82
Jun 16 Harmonica Slim [Travis Blaylock], American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter ("You Better Believe It"), dies at 49
Jun 17 Klavdiya Shulzhenko, Soviet jazz and pop singer ("Let's Smoke"), dies at 78
Jun 19 Wladimir Rudolfovich Vogel, composer, dies at 88
Jun 20 Hans Studer, Swiss composer, dies at 73
Jun 22 (Dillwyn) "Dill" Jones, Welsh jazz stride pianist, dies of throat cancer at 60
Jul 2 Ramiro Cortes, composer, dies at 50
Jul 4 Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter ("You Must Be Laughing Somewhere"; "Let It Flow"), dies when his motorcycle is struck by drunken driver at 34
Jul 5 Don Elliott [Helfman], American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, mellophone player, and vocalist, dies of cancer at 57
Jul 8 Christine McIntyre, American actress and singer (The Three Stooges, The Rangers' Round-Up), dies from cancer at 73
Jul 9 Randall Thompson, American composer (Trip to Nahant), dies at 85
Jul 11 Karel Mengelberg, Dutch composer and conductor, dies at 81
Jul 14 Philippe Wynne, American soul singer ("I'll Be Around"), dies of a heart attack at 43
Jul 14 Siegfried Köhler, German composer (Tausend Sterne sind ein Dom), dies at 57
Jul 16 Billy Williams, American singer (Your Show of Shows), dies at 73
Jul 17 J Delos Jewkes, American light opera, vaudeville, choral (Mormon Tabernacle), film and television bass singer, and actor (Stars And Stripes Forever; The Music Man; The Andy Griffith Show), dies of a heart attack at 89
Jul 20 Gail Kubik, American composer (Gerald McBoing Boing), dies at 69
Jul 21 Michael Osborne, American rock guitarist and vocalist (Axe), dies at 34
Jul 25 Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, American rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter ("Hound Dog"; "Ball & Chain"; "Stronger Than Dirt"), dies of heart and liver disorders at 57
Jul 28 Ahti Sonninen, Finnish composer (Pessi and Illusia, Rauhaa, vain rauhaa), dies at 70
Jul 29 Fred Waring, American bandleader, conductor, and Waring Blender namesake, dies at 84
Jul 31 Paul Le Flem, French composer and music critic, dies at 103
Aug 7 Esther Phillips, American singer (What a Difference a Day Makes), dies at 48
Aug 11 Pat McCauley, Northern Irish rock keyboardist and drummer (Them. 1964-65 - "Here Comes The Night"; The Other Them, 1965-67), dies at 40
Aug 11 Percy Mayfield, American singer (Hit the Road Jack), dies at 63
Aug 14 (John) "Bobo" Jenkins, American blues singer-songwriter (Democrat Blues), dies at 68
Aug 14 Peter Wishart, English composer, dies at 63
Aug 16 György Kósa, Hungarian composer, dies at 87
Aug 17 Hammie Nixon [Nickerson], American blues harmonica player (Sleepy John Estes), dies at 76
Aug 22 Charles Whittenberg, American composer, dies at 57
Sep 3 Arthur Schwartz, American composer (Girl from Paris; Excuse My Dust), dies at 83
Sep 6 Ernest Tubb, American country musician ("Walking the Floor Over You"), dies of emphysema at 70
Sep 8 Rene Bernier, Belgian composer, dies at 79
Sep 9 Walter Kaufmann, German-American conductor (Winnipeg Symphony, 1948-57), composer (Navaratnam), and musicologist (The Ragas of South India), dies at 77
Sep 11 Hilding Hallnäs, Swedish composer (Kärlekens ringdans), dies at 81
Sep 19 June Preisser, American acrobatic dancer and actress (Babes in Arms; Strike Up the Band), dies in a car crash at 64
Sep 20 Steve Goodman, American folk singer and songwriter ("City O f New Orleans"; "Chicken Cordon Blues"), dies of leukemia at 36
Sep 23 Anatoly Novikov, Russian-Soviet composer (Red Spider; The Hymn of Democratic Youth of the World), dies at 87
Sep 26 Shelly Manne, American 'West Coast' jazz and session drummer, percussionist, composer, and bandleader, dies of a heart attack at 64
Oct 6 Eliseo Pajaro, Filipino composer (The Life of Lam-Ling; Marilag Fantasy), pedagogue, and school administrator, dies at 69
Oct 7 Hermann Schroeder, German composer, dies at 80
Oct 17 Alberta Hunter, American blues singer and composer, dies at 89
Oct 21 Dalibor Cyril Vačkář, Czech composer, dies at 78
Oct 22 Harold Laurence Walters, American composer, dies at 66
Oct 23 James Petrillo, American labor leader (American Federation of Musicians president, 1940-58), and radio orchestra music director (WBBM Chicago), dies at 92
Oct 24 Walter Woolf King, American stage and screen baritone, character actor (Golden Dawn; A Night at the Opera; Swiss Miss), and actor's agent, dies of a heart attack at 84
Oct 25 Pascale Ogier, actress (Ghost Dance), dies of a heart attack at 24
Oct 26 John Woods Duke, American composer, dies at 85
Oct 28 Giuseppe Savagnone, Italian composer, dies at 81
Nov 8 Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen, Norwegian composer, dies at 81
Nov 11 Jan Novák, Czech classical composer and contemporary Latin poet, dies at 63
Nov 16 Leonard Rose, American concert cellist (NY Phil 1943-51), dies at 66
Nov 16 Vic Dickenson, American trombonist (b. 1906)
Nov 20 Alexander Moyzes, Slovak composer, dies at 78
Nov 24 Godfrey Ridout, Canadian composer, dies at 66
Dec 8 Razzle [Nicholas Dingley], British drummer (Hanoi Rocks), dies at 24
Dec 15 Jan Peerce [Jacob Pincus Perelmuth], American tenor (NBC Symphony, 1938-55; NY Metropolitan Opera, 1941-67; "Bluebird of Happiness"), dies at 80
Dec 19 Michel Magne, French experimental music and film score composer (Gigot; Barbarella), and recording studio owner (Château d'Hérouville). takes his own life at 54
Dec 21 Judith Raskin, American soprano (Susanna-Le Nozze di Figaro), dies at 56
Dec 22 Viola Wells [Evans], American jazz, blues, and gospel singer, dies at 82
Dec 26 Gösta Jonsson, Swedish saxophonist, accordion player and bandleader, dies at 69
Dec 29 Leo Robin, American songwriter ("Thanks For the Memory"; "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"), dies of heart failure at 84