- Dec 2 Charlie Byrd, American jazz and bossa nova guitarist (Desfinado), dies of lung cancer at 74
- Dec 3 "Scatman" John [Larkin], American jazz pianist and singer ("Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)"), dies of lung cancer at 57
- Dec 3 Madeline Kahn, American stage and screen actress (What's Up, Doc?; Young Frankenstein; Paper Moon; Blazing Saddles), and singer, dies of ovarian cancer at 57
- Dec 5 Robert Parris, American composer (Book of Imaginary Beings), dies at 75
- Dec 10 Rick Danko, Canadian rock bassist and singer (The Band - "Stagefright"), dies of heart failure at 55
- Dec 11 Charles Earland, American jazz Hammond organist, and bandleader, dies of heart failure at 58
- Dec 12 Leo Smit, American classical pianist, composer (The Alchemy of Love), teacher and photographer, dies of congestive heart failure at 78
- Dec 14 Dave Shogren, American rock bassist (The Doobie Brothers, 1970-71), dies at 49
- Dec 15 George Elrick, Scottish-British singer ("I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones"), and broadcaster known as 'The Smiling Voice of Radio' (BBC's "Housewives' Choice"), dies at 95
- Dec 17 Grover Washington Jr., American jazz saxophonist ("Just The Two Of Us"; "Mr Magic"; "Let It Flow"), dies of a heart attack at 56
- Dec 17 Rex Allen, American singer-songwriter known as the "the Arizona Cowboy", and actor (Frontier Doctor - "Dr. Baxter"), dies at 78
- Dec 20 [Clarence] Hank Snow, Canadian country singer ("I'm Moving On"; "I Went To Your Wedding"), dies of heart failure at 85
- Dec 23 Marcel Landowski, French composer (Un enfant appelle), dies at 84
- Dec 24 Zeke Carey, American R&B singer (The Flamingos - "Goodnight Sweetheart"; "I Only Have Eyes For You"), dies of a heart attack at 66
Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999)
Dec 26 American singer-songwriter and soul musician ("Freddie's Dead"; "Superfly"), dies from complications of type 2 diabetes at 57
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