- Jan 4 Allen Sapp, American composer (Imaginary Creatures), and pedagogue, dies of heart failure at 76
- Jan 6 Michel Petrucciani, French jazz pianist (100 Hearts), dies from a pulmonary infection at 36
- Jan 10 (Elbert) "Sonny" Forriest, American guitarist (The Coasters; Ray Charles; Hank Crawford), dies at 64
- Jan 10 Frank Parker, American singer (Arthur Godfrey Show, Masquerade Party), dies at 95
- Jan 10 Primož Ramovš, Slovenian avant-garde composer (Za Harmoniko; Tryptychon), pedagogue, and library director (Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 1945-87), dies at 77
- Jan 11 Fabrizio de André, Italian singer-songwriter (Storia di un impiegato), dies of lung cancer at 58
- Jan 20 Bill Albaugh, American pop-psychedelic rock drummer (The Lemon Pipers - "My Green Tambourine"), dies at 53
- Jan 21 Charles Brown, American blues singer and pianist ("Merry Christmas Baby"), dies at 76
- Jan 21 Jacques Chailley, French musicologist and composer, dies at 88
- Jan 21 Leslie French, British actor and singer (Death in Venice, More than a Miracle), dies at 94
- Jan 23 Prince Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican musician (b. 1949)
- Jan 25 Robert Shaw, American chorale conductor (Robert Shaw Chorale), dies of a stroke at 82
- Jan 29 Lili St. Cyr [Marie Van Schaack], American dancer and strip tease performer, dies at 80
Country Singers
Jazz Singers
Opera Singers
Pop Singers
Rappers
Rock Singers