- Dec 1 Gustavo Adolfo Palma, Guatemalan singer (b. 1920)
- Dec 1 Ramses Shaffy, Dutch singer and cabaret actor (Zaak MP, Liefdesbekentenissen), dies at 76
- Dec 2 Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer and producer (The Alan Parsons Project), dies at 64
- Dec 8 Luis Días, Dominican Composer (b. 1952).
- Dec 13 Aubrey Bowman, British pianist, composer, and conductor (Workman's Music Association), dies from injuries after being struck by a car at 91
- Dec 13 Joe Castro, American bebop and West Coast jazz pianist (Teddy Edwards Quartet; June Christy), dies at 82
- Dec 15 Carolyn DeZurik, American country and polka singer and yodeler (The Cackle Sisters; Prairie Ramblers; The Polka Chips), dies at 90
- Dec 18 Oskar Danon, Yugoslav conductor (Belgrade Opera, 1944-65), dies at 96
- Dec 20 (Amada) "Amy" Santos Ocampo, Filipina pianist and composer, dies at 84
- Dec 20 James Gurley, American rock lead guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company), dies of a heart attack at 69
- Dec 20 Tony Ayre, Northern Irish rock bass player (The Adventures - "Broken Land", "Drowning in the Sea of Love"), dies at 51
- Dec 24 Tim Hart, British folk-rock singer, guitarist, mandolin and dulcimer player (Steeleye Span, 1969-82 - "All Around My Hat"; "Gaudete"), dies of lung cancer at 61
- Dec 25 Tony "T-Bone" Bellamy, American rock guitarist (Redbone), dies of liver failure at 63
- Dec 25 Vic Chesnutt, American singer-songwriter, dies of an overdose of muscle relaxants at 46
- Dec 26 Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer, dies of cancer at 51
- Dec 28 James Owen Sullivan, American drummer and songwriter (Avenged Sevenfold), dies aged 28
- Dec 30 Rowland S. Howard, Australian guitarist (The Birthday Party) (b. 1959)
- Dec 31 Earl Gaines, American R&B, soul, and electric blues singer (It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)), dies at 74
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