Musicians Who Died on December 8

  • 1785 Antonio Maria Mazzoni, Italian opera composer, dies at 68
  • 1874 Franz Wilhelm Ferling, German oboist and composer (48 études for oboe), dies at 78
  • 1900 Henry Russell, composer, dies at 87
  • 1923 Dom Joseph Pothier, French monk and musicologist, dies at 88
  • 1924 (Franz) Xaver Scharwenka, German pianist, educator, and composer (Mataswintha), dies at 74
  • 1934 Bernhard Seklas, German pianist, composer, conductor, and pedagogue thought to be the first jazz instructor, dies at 62
  • 1939 Ernest Schelling, American child piano prodigy, conductor, and composer (A Victory Ball), dies of a cerebral embolism at 63
  • 1945 Alexander Siloti, Russian pianist and composer, dies at 82
  • 1945 Richard M. Jones, American jazz pianist, accompanist, songwriter ("Trouble In Mind"), record producer (Louis Armstrong) and label manager (Okeh; Decca; Mercury), dies at 53
  • 1955 Jacques Handschin, Swiss musicologist (Der Toncharakter), dies at 69
  • 1956 Edgar Bainton, British-Australian composer, dies at 76
  • 1961 William Beatton Moonie, Scottish composer (The Weird of Colbar; Echoes of Perthshire), dies at 71
  • 1967 John Mills, Sr., American singer (Mills Brothers) (b. 1889)
  • 1969 Vincenzo Davico, composer, dies at 80
  • 1974 Hugues Panassié, French jazz critic, record producer, and impresario (Hot Club de France), dies at 62
  • 1975 Gary Thain, New Zealand bassist (Uriah Heep, 1972-75), dies of respiratory failure due to a heroin overdose, at 27

John Lennon (1940-1980)

British musician, pop star and member of The Beatles (Imagine), shot and murdered outside of his home in NYC by Mark David Chapman at 40

  • 1981 "Big" Walter [Horton], American blues harmonica player (Everybody's Fishin'), dies of heart failure at about 60 [year of birth disputed]
  • 1982 Marty Robbins, American country singer (Devil Woman; I Walk Alone), dies of complications following cardiac surgery at 57
  • 1984 Razzle [Nicholas Dingley], British drummer (Hanoi Rocks), dies at 24
  • 1988 Herbert "Tubo" Rhoad, American baritone a cappella singer (Persuasions - "Street Corner Symphony"), dies at 44
  • 1990 Boris Kochno, Russian ballet dancer (La Chatte) and librettist, dies at 86
  • 1990 Pony Sherrell Metcalf, American singer, dies of heart attack at undisclosed age
  • 1991 (Wilbur) "Buck" Clayton, American jazz trumpet player (Count Basie; Billie Holiday; Lester Young), and bandleader, dies at 80
  • 1994 Antônio Carlos Jobim [Tom Jobim], Brazilian singer-songwriter and composer (Getz/Gilberto), dies from pulmonary embolism at 67
  • 2003 Rubén González, Cuban pianist (Buena Vista Social Club) (b. 1919)
  • 2004 "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, American heavy metal guitarist (Pantera), shot and killed by crazed fan Nathan Gale while performing on stage at 38
  • 2005 Donald James Martino, American classical composer (Notturno - Pulitzer Prize, 1974), dies at 74
  • 2006 Martha Tilton, American big band singer (Benny Goodman; Jimmy Dorsey), dies at 91 [1]
  • 2009 Luis Días, Dominican Composer (b. 1952).
  • 2011 Dick Sims, American Hammond B-3 organist (Bob Seger; Eric Clapton), dies of cancer at 60
  • 2011 Minoru Miky, Japanese composer for traditional Japanese instruments, dies at 84
  • 2013 Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and pedagogue, dies at 82
  • 2014 Knut Nystedt, Norwegian organist, choral composer, and conductor, dies at 99
  • 2015 Bonnie Lou [Mary Joan Okum] American rockabilly musician ("Tennessee Mambo"), dies at 91
  • 2015 Mattiwilda Dobbs, American soprano, dies at 90

Juice WRLD (1998-2019)

American rapper and singer-songwriter (All Girls Are the Same, Lucid Dreams), dies at 21 of a seizure at Chicago airport caused by toxic levels of oxycodone and codeine

  • 2020 Harold Budd, American avant-garde ambient pianist and composer (The Pavilion of Dreams), dies of COVID-19 at 84 [1]
  • 2021 Barry Harris, American bebop jazz pianist (Cannonball Adderly; Lee Morgan; "The Bird of Red and Gold"), and educator, dies of COVID-19 complications at 91 [1]
  • 2021 Ralph Tavares, Cape Verdean-American R&B and soul singer (Tavares - "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel"), dies at 79
  • 2021 Robbie Shakespeare, Jamaican reggae bassist (Sly & Robbie - "DJ Riot"), dies of kidney failure at 68