- Oct 5 Emanuel Sayles, American jazz banjo player (Preservation Hall Jazz Band), dies at 79
- Oct 10 (Ivy) Priaulx Rainier, South African-British composer (Ploërmel), dies at 83
- Oct 16 Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian concert violinist, dies of a stroke at 65
- Oct 19 Moses Asch, Polish-American recording engineer (founder of Folkways Records), dies at 81 [1]
- Oct 22 Jane Dornacker, American stand-up comic, songwriter, rock vocalist (The Tubes), and ill-fated traffic reporter, dies in a helicopter crash at 39
- Oct 27 Alan Branscombe, British jazz and session pianist, vibraphonist, and saxophonist (Tubby Hayes; Beatles - "Got To Get You Into My Life"), dies at 50
- Oct 29 Abel Meeropol, American songwriter ("Strange Fruit"; "The House I Live In'), and librettist ("The Good Soldier Schweick"), dies at 83
- Oct 29 Osamu Shimizu, Japanese composer, dies at 74
- Oct 30 Andrzej Markowski, Polish composer, dies at 62
Country Singers
Jazz Singers
Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers