- Dec 1 Martin Sharp, Australian cartoonist, album cover artist songwriter (Cream), and filmmaker, dies of emphysema at 71
- Dec 1 Richard Coughlan, British progressive rock drummer and percussionist (Caravan - "In the Land of Grey and Pink"), dies of pneumonia at 66
- Dec 6 Stan Tracey, British jazz pianist, dies at 86
- Dec 8 Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and pedagogue, dies at 82
- Dec 10 Jim Hall, American jazz guitarist and composer, dies at 83
- Dec 12 Zbigniew Karkowski, Polish composer and experimental musician (Sensorband), dies of pancreatic cancer at 55
- Dec 16 Ray Price, American country music singer-songwriter, and guitarist ("For the Good Times"; "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"), dies from pancreatic cancer at 87
- Dec 17 Leland Smith, American composer, bassoonist and computer coder who led music publishing into the digital age (SCORE), dies at 88
- Dec 21 Lars Edlund, Swedish composer, dies at 91
- Dec 23 Ricky Lawson, American musician, dies at 59
- Dec 23 Yusef Lateef, American jazz saxophonist and flautist, dies at 93
- Dec 29 Leonard "Red" Balaban, American jazz tuba and sousaphone player, dies at 84
- Dec 29 Wojciech Kilar, Polish classical (Missa Pro Pace), and film score composer (Bram Stoker's Dracula; The Pianist), dies from cancer at 81
- Dec 31 Al Porcino, American big band jazz and session trumpeter (Woody Herman, Stan Kenton), dies after a fall at 88
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