Musicians Who Died in 1988

Mar 8 Ken Colyer, British New Orleans jazz devotee trumpeter, cornetist, and bandleader, dies at 79

Andy Gibb (1958-1988)

Mar 10 British singer-songwriter, performer and teen idol (Bee Gees - "I Just Want to Be Your Everything"), dies of myocarditis at 30

Mar 10 William Brocklesby Wordsworth, English composer, dies at 79
Mar 14 Willi Apel, German-American musicologist (Harvard Dictionary of Music), dies at 94
Mar 17 Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer, dies at 38
Mar 20 Gil Evans, Canadian-American jazz pianist, composer and arranger (Miles Davis; Absolute Beginners, Out of the Cool), dies at 75
Mar 26 Musa Kaleem [Orlando Wright], American jazz saxophonist, dies at 67
Mar 30 Taneli Kuusisto, Finnish organist and composer (Suomalainen rukous - Finnish Prayer), dies at 82
Mar 31 Talib Rasul Hakim [Stephen Chambers], American composer (Visions of Ishwara; Az-Zaahir-Al Batin (The Outward-The Inward)), dies at 48
Apr 4 Ludwig Stiel, German pianist, composer, and conductor, dies at 86
Apr 7 Cesar Bresgen, Austrian organist and composer, dies at 74
Apr 9 Brook Benton [Benjamin Franklin Peay], American soul vocalist (It's Just a Matter of Time; Rainy Night in Georgia), dies of meningitis at 56
Apr 9 Dave Prater, American R&B singer and musician (Sam & Dave - "Soul Man"), dies in a car crash at 50
Apr 14 Herbert Reynolds Inch, American composer and teacher, dies at 83
Apr 14 Johan Franco, Dutch composer, dies at 79
Apr 15 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist, dies at 33
Apr 25 Boris Kremenliev, Bulgarian-American composer (The Tell-Tale Heart), educator (UCLA, 1947-78), and ethno-musicologist (Bulgarian-Macedonian Folk Music), dies at 76
Apr 25 Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter, and sister of Aretha, dies of cancer at 43
Apr 25 Lanny Ross, American radio singer (Show Boat, The Swift Show), dies at 82
Apr 28 B. W. Stevenson, American country singer, dies at 38
Apr 29 Jan Kapr, Czech composer, dies at 74
Apr 30 James McCracken, American operatic tenor (Otello), dies at 61
May 3 Johannes Driessler, German organist and composer, dies at 67
May 5 George Rose, British actor and singer (Beacon Hill; Holocaust), dies at 68
May 6 Paul Wilson, American doo-wop baritone singer (Flamingos, 1953-64 - "I Only Have Eyes For You"; "Lovers Never Say Goodbye"), dies at 53

Chet Baker (1929-1988)

May 13 American jazz trumpeter and vocalist ("My Funny Valentine"), falls to his death from an Amsterdam hotel balcony at 59

May 18 David Moule-Evans, English composer and conductor, dies at 82
May 20 René Defossez, Belgian composer, composer, and pedagigue, dies at 82
May 21 Harry Babasin, American jazz bassist and cellist (Dodo Marmarosa Trio), and archivist (Los Angeles Theaseum), dies of emphysema at 67

Sammy Davis Sr. (1900-1988)

May 21 American vaudeville dancer (Mr. Wonderful), dies at 87

May 26 José Muñoz Molleda, Spanish composer and politician, dies at 83
May 28 (Melvin) "Sy" Oliver, American jazz arranger, songwriter (Jimmie Lunceford; Tommy Dorsey - "Yes, Indeed!"), dies at 77 [1]
Jun 4 Allan Reuss, American jazz, big band, and session guitarist (Benny Goodman; Glenn Miller; Mildred Bailey), dies at 72
Jun 12 Marcel Poot, Belgian baron and composer, dies at 87
Jun 19 Zdeněk Blažek, Czech composer and music theorist (Verchovina), dies at 83
Jun 22 Burrill Phillips, American classical composer (Play Ball; Perspectives in a Labyrinth), pianist, and educator, dies after a heart attack at 80
Jun 22 Dennis Day [Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty], Irish-American tenor ("Danny Boy"), radio and television comic actor (Jack Benny Program; A Day in the Life of Dennis Day), dies of ALS at 72
Jun 22 Jesse Ed Davis, Native American session and touring guitarist (Taj Mahal; Concert for Bangladesh; The Faces), dies of a drug overdose at 43
Jun 24 Hibari Misora [Kazue Katō], Japanese pop singer ("Kawa no nagare no yō ni" - Like the Flow of the River), dies of heart failure at 52
Jun 25 Hillel Slovak, Israeli musician (Anthym/What Is This?, Red Hot Chili Peppers) (b. 1962)
Jul 1 Hellmuth Christian Wolff, German composer, teacher, musicologist, and painter, dies at 82
Jul 1 Lex van Delden [Alexander Zwaap], Dutch composer (The Bird of Freedom), and writer (Canto della Guerra), dies at 68
Jul 1 Robert Riefling, Norwegian concert pianist and pedagogue (Royal Danish Academy, 1967-88; Norwegian Academy of Music from ,1973-88), dies at 76
Jul 2 Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, American blues, jazz, and R&B alto saxophonist, dies of a heart attack at 70
Jul 18 Joly Braga Santos, Portuguese composer and conductor, dies of a stroke at 64
Jul 18 Nico [Christa Päffgen], German model, and pop singer (Velvet Underground - "Sunday Morning"; "I'll Be Your Mirror"), dies from a bicycle accident at 43
Jul 21 Norridge Mayhams, American swing, pop, and gospel singer-songwriter ("We'll Build a Bungalow"), guitarist, bandleader, and record producer, dies at 84
Jul 22 Luigi Lucioni, Italian-American landscape painter (opera stars), dies at 87
Jul 29 Ellin Berlin (née MacKay), American writer (Lace Curtain), and second wife of songwriter Irving Berlin (muse for his song "Always" and "Remember"), dies at 86
Jul 29 Pete Drake, American pedal steel guitarist and producer, dies at 55
Jul 31 André Navarra, French concert cellist (Jolivet's Cello Concerto), and educator (Paris Conservatoire, 1947-88), dies at 76
Aug 2 Roger Vuataz, Swiss organist, conductor, and composer, dies at 90
Aug 8 Félix Leclerc, French Canadian singer and composer (Moi, mes souliers), dies at 74
Aug 9 Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer and surrealist poet, dies at 83
Aug 11 Jean-Pierre Ponnele, French opera director (Carmina Burana), dies at 56
Aug 12 Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
Aug 14 Robert Calvert, South African-British writer and musician (Hawkwind), dies of a heart attack at 43
Aug 14 Roy Buchanan, American blues guitarist, takes his own life after being arrested for public drunkenness at 48
Aug 16 Milton Adolphus, American pianist and composer, dies at 75

Frederick Ashton (1904-1988)

Aug 18 British choreographer (Cinderella), dies at 83

Aug 26 Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer-songwriter (Playback), dies in a car crash at 30
Aug 28 Hazel Dawn [Henrietta Tout], American stage actress, singer, and violinist (The Pink Lady; The Debutante), and silent film actress (My Lady Incog), dies at 98
Sep 5 Lawrence Brown, American trombonist (Duke Ellington Orchestra), dies at 81
Sep 12 (Carlos) "Charlie" Palmieri, American salsa and charanga music bandleader, musical director, and piano player (Tito Puente; Alegre All-Stars), dies after a heart attack at 60
Sep 14 Melle Weersma, Dutch jazz arranger and composer ("Penny Serenade"), dies at 80
Sep 22 Rezső Sugár, Hungarian composer (Savonarola), and pedagogue, dies at 68
Sep 23 Arwel Hughes, Welsh composer, dies at 79
Oct 7 Billy Daniels, African-American jazz singer ("That Old Black Magic") and television pioneer (The Billy Daniels Show), dies of cancer at 73
Oct 8 Ernst Hermann Meyer, German composer, dies at 82
Oct 9 Cliff Gallup, American guitarist (Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps), dies of a heart attack at 58
Oct 15 Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji [Leon Dudley Sorabji], Parsi-British pianist and composer (Opus clavicembalisticum), dies of heart failure at 96
Oct 19 Edward "Son" House, American delta blues singer-songwriter and guitarist ("Walking Blues"; "Preachin' The Blues"), dies of larynx cancer at 86
Oct 25 Johnnie Richardson, American R&B musician (Johnnie & Joe), dies at 53
Oct 26 Herman Strategier, Dutch organist, conductor, and composer (Rembrandt Cantata; Shadow Out of Time), dies at 76
Nov 11 William Ifor Jones, Welsh organist and conductor, dies at 88
Nov 12 Tomasz Sikorski, Polish minimalist composer (Solitude of Sounds), dies at 49
Nov 13 Antal Doráti, Hungarian-American conductor (Minneapolis Symphony, 1949-1960), dies at 82
Nov 13 Jaromír Vejvoda, Czech composer (Beer Barrel Polka), dies at 86
Nov 24 Irmgard Seefried, German soprano, dies at 69
Nov 26 Antonio Estévez, Venezuelan composer and conductor (Cantata Criolla), dies at 72
Nov 27 Karel Horky, Czech composer, dies at 79
Nov 30 Charlie Rouse, American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist (Thelonious Monk Quartet; Sphere), dies of lung cancer at 64
Dec 2 Ilona Fehér, Hungarian-Israeli violinist, and pedagogue, dies at 87
Dec 2 Tata Giacobetti, Italian jazz singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra), dies at 66
Dec 6 Bill Harris, American guitarist (Clovers-Love Potion No 9), dies at 63

Roy Orbison (1936-1988)

Dec 6 American rock singer-songwriter ("Pretty Woman"; "Only The Lonely"; Traveling Wilburys - "Handle With Care"), dies of a massive heart attack at 52

Dec 8 Herbert "Tubo" Rhoad, American baritone a cappella singer (Persuasions - "Street Corner Symphony"), dies at 44
Dec 14 Hermann Pfrogner, Austrian musicologist (Zerrissene Orpheus), and educator (Munich Music College, 1958-74), dies at 77

Sylvester James Jr. (1947-1988)

Dec 16 American singer-songwriter (Do Ya Wanna Funk), dies of complications from HIV/AIDS at 41

Dec 22 (Thomas) "Tucker" Smith, American stage and screen dancer, singer and actor (West Side Story - "Ice"), dies of cancer at 52
Dec 26 Pablo Sorozábal, Spanish composer, dies at 91