- 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
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