- Jul 2 Earle Brown, American composer (open form), dies at 75
- Jul 2 Ray Brown, American jazz double bassist (Oscar Peterson; Ella Fitzgerald), dies in his sleep at 75
- Jul 5 Grant Beglarian, Armenian-American composer (Of Fables, Foibles, and Fancies), educator (University of Southern California, 1969-86), and arts administrator,dies at 74
- Jul 5 Harold "Duke" Dejan, Creole-American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader (Olympia Brass Band), dies at 93
- Jul 6 István Sárközy, Hungarian composer, dies at 81
- Jul 11 Rosco Gordon, American R&B pianist, singer, and songwriter ("Booted"; "No More Doggin'"), dies of a heart attack at 74
- Jul 14 Carlos Fariñas, Cuban avant-garde composer, dies at 67
- Jul 19 Alan Lomax, American ethnomusicologist, and folklorist (Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song), dies at 87
- Jul 21 Gus Dudgeon [Angus Boyd Dudgeon], British pop record producer (Elton John, early David Bowie), dies in a car crash at 59
- Jul 22 Marion Montgomery [Marian Runnells], American-British jazz singer ("Maybe the Morning"), dies of lung cancer at 67
- Jul 28 Glenn Loren Glasow, American composer, dies at 78
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