Musicians Who Died on December 14

  • 1732 Johann Philipp Förtsch, German Baroque composer, statesman, and physician, dies at 80
  • 1780 Ignatius Sancho, African-born British writer, shopkeeper and composer (1st person of African descent to vote in a British general election), dies (b. c. 1729) [1]
  • 1788 Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
  • 1829 Luigi Marchesi, Italian composer, dies at 74
  • 1849 Conradin Kreutzer, German composer, dies at 69
  • 1861 Heinrich August Marschner, German opera composer, dies at 66
  • 1886 Antoni Wincenty Rutkowski, Polish-Russian composer, dies at 27
  • 1914 Giovanni Sgambati, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 73
  • 1923 Giuseppe Gallignani, Italian composer and conductor, takes his own life at 72
  • 1938 Maurice Emmanuel, French composer and musicologist (Salamine), dies at 76
  • 1945 Constantino Gaito, Argentinian composer, dies at 67
  • 1948 R. O. Morris [Reginald Owen], British composer and music teacher, dies at 62
  • 1951 Coretté Alefred [Hardy], American-Russian-Soviet jazz, spiritual and pop lyrical and dramatic soprano, dancer, and actress, dies at 70
  • 1952 (Olav) Fartein Valen, Norwegian composer, pianist, polyglot, and rosarian, dies at 65
  • 1963 Dinah Washington [Ruth Lee Jones], American jazz, blues, pop, and R&B singer ("What a Diff'rence a Day Makes": "September In The Rain"), dies of sleeping pill overdose at 39
  • 1965 Herman Sandby, Danish cellist and composer, dies at 84
  • 1970 Elmer Schoebel, American jazz pianist, arranger (New Orleans Rhythm Kings; Isham Jones), and composer ("Farewell Blues"; "Prince Of Wails"), dies at 73
  • 1973 Yitzhak Edel, Israeli composer, dies at 77
  • 1988 Hermann Pfrogner, Austrian musicologist (Zerrissene Orpheus), and educator (Munich Music College, 1958-74), dies at 77
  • 1989 Konrad Lechner, German cellist, composer, and conductor, dies at 78
  • 1989 Pattie Santos, American singer (It's a Beautiful Day), dies in a car accident at 40
  • 1994 Mary Ann McCall, American singer, dies at 75
  • 1996 Norman Hackforth, British musician and radio broadcaster (Noel Coward; Twenty Questions), dies at 88
  • 1997 Kurt Winter, Canadian musician (The Guess Who), dies of kidney failure at 51
  • 1999 Dave Shogren, American rock bassist (The Doobie Brothers, 1970-71), dies at 49
  • 2001 (Secondo) "Conte" Candoli, American jazz, big band, and session trumpeter (Woody Herman; Stan Kenton; The Brothers Candoli; The Tonight Show, 1967-92), dies of prostate cancer at 74
  • 2002 Ruth Kobart [Kahn], American actor and singer (King's Quest VII, Forum), dies at 78
  • 2006 Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American, songwriter, businessman (co-founder of Atlantic Records), and philanthropist, dies from complications after tripping during a Rolling Stones concert at 83
  • 2006 Otmar Macha, Czech composer (Quattro Group), dies at 84
  • 2007 Ernő Király, Yugoslavian composer and ethnomusicologist, dies at 88
  • 2008 Ramon Barce, Spanish composer, dies at 80
  • 2016 Karel Husa, Czech-American Pulitzer prize winning composer (Trojan Women), dies at 95
  • 2018 Joe Osborn, American session bass player (Bridge Over Troubled Water), dies of pancreatic cancer at 81
  • 2021 Phil Chen, Chinese-Jamaican rock session and touring bassist (Jeff Beck, 1974-76; Rod Stewart, 1977-80; Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger), dies of cancer at 75