- Oct 1 (Greig) "Chubby" Jackson, American big band jazz double-bassist, bandleader, and TV host, dies at 84
- Oct 7 Arthur Berger, American composer (Ideas of Order), music critic, and educator (Brandeis, 1953-80; New England Conservatory of Music, 1980-99), dies at 91
- Oct 10 Eugene Istomin, American pianist (Leventritt Award-1943), dies at 77
- Oct 12 Ram Gopal, Indian-English dancer (Blue Peter, Purple Plain), dies at 90
- Oct 21 (Steven) Elliott Smith, American Academy Award nominated singer-songwriter (Good Will Hunting - "Miss Misery"), dies of suspected self-inflicted stab wounds at 34 [1]
- Oct 23 Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician. dies of an aneurysm at 59
- Oct 25 Robert Strassburg, American composer, conductor and educator (Leaves of Grass: A Choral Symphony), dies at 88
- Oct 26 Roberto Garcia Morillo, Argentine composer and music critic, dies at 92
- Oct 29 Franco Corelli, Italian tenor, dies after suffering a stroke at 82
- Oct 30 Abel Ehrlich, Israeli composer, dies at 88
- Oct 31 Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Indian Carnatic vocalist, dies at 95
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