- Oct 5 Arthur Tracy [Avrom Tracovutsky], Ukrainian-American radio personality, vocalist, and accordion player (The Street Singer), dies at 98
- Oct 7 Friedrich Zipp, German composer, dies at 83
- Oct 10 George Malcolm, British keyboard player and conductor (Westminster Cathedral Master of the Music, 1947-59), dies at 80
John Denver (1943-1997)
Oct 12 American pop songwriter ("Leaving On A Jet Plane"), country-pop singer ("Sunshine On My Shoulders"; "Calypso"; "Thank God I'm A Country Boy"), and actor (Oh, God!), dies in a solo plane crash at 53
- Oct 19 Glen Buxton, American guitarist (Alice Cooper) and composer, dies at 49
- Oct 20 Henry Vestine, American guitarist (Canned Heat), dies of heart and respiratory failure at 52
- Oct 22 Harry Goodman, American jazz bassist, and sometimes tuba player, dies at 91
- Oct 24 Janine Andrade, French classical violinist, dies at 78
Kendrick Lamar
Eminem
XXXTentacion
Tupac Shakur
Nicki Minaj
Coolio