- Dec 5 Felipe Padilla de León, Filipino composer, dies at 80
- Dec 6 (Karl) Yngve Sköld, Swedish organist, pianist, and composer, dies at 93
- Dec 10 Bernard Reichel, Swiss composer, dies at 91
- Dec 11 Andy Kirk, American jazz saxophonist, tuba player, and bandleader (Clouds Of Joy - "I Won't Tell a Soul (I Love You)"), dies at 94
- Dec 13 Bernard Drukker, Dutch pianist and orchestra leader (duivelswiel), dies at 73
- Dec 18 Edwin Gerschefski, American pianist, composer and teacher (Saugauck Suite), dies at 83
- Dec 21 Albert King [Nelson], American blues guitarist and singer (BB King & Friends; Blues Alive), dies of a heart attack at 69
- Dec 21 Nathan Milstein, Ukrainian-American Grammy Award-winning concert violinist, transcriber and composer, dies at 87
- Dec 21 Philip Farkas, American classical horn player (Chicago Symphony) and educator (University of Indiana), dies at 78
- Dec 22 Harry Bluestone, British-American jazz and session violinist, bandleader, and music publisher, dies from Parkinson's disease at 85
- Dec 23 Eddie Hazel, American pop guitarist (Funkadelic - "Knee Deep"), dies at 42
- Dec 24 Bobby LaKind, American conga player, vocalist, songwriter and occasional backup drummer (The Doobie Brothers), dies from terminal colon cancer at 47
- Dec 26 Nikita Magaloff, Georgian-Russian-Swiss pianist (1st to record Chopin's complete works), dies at 80
- Dec 28 Mort Greene [Greenberger], American songwriter (Theme to "Leave It To Beaver"; "Sleepy Serenade"), dies at 80
- Dec 29 Vivienne Segal, American Broadway stage actress and singer (Pal Joey), dies at 95