- 1572 Pierre Certon, French composer
- 1704 Georg Muffat, French/German organist/composer, dies at 50
- 1806 John Alcock, English composer and organist, dies at 90
- 1807 François Guichard, French guitarist and composer, dies at 61
- 1867 George Thomas Smart, English composer and conductor (Covent Garden), dies at 90
- 1897 Woldemar Bargiel, German composer, dies at 68
- 1903 Albert Cahen, French composer, dies at 57
- 1903 Friedrich Grutzmacher, composer, dies at 70
- 1916 George Martin, English composer and organist, dies at 71
- 1920 Alexander Alexandrovich Il'yinsky, composer, dies at 61
- 1927 Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson, Icelandic composer (Lofsöngur - National Anthem of Iceland), dies at 79
- 1930 Horst Wessel, German nazi lyricist (Fahne Hoch), dies at 22
Nellie Melba (1861-1931)
Australian operatic soprano and face of the Australian 100 dollar note, dies at 69
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
English composer (Coronation Ode, Pomp and Circumstance), dies of colorectal cancer at 76
- 1957 Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
- 1963 Algeria Junius "June" Clark, American jazz trumpeter and cornetist, dies at 62
- 1969 Joseph Messner, Austrian organist and composer, dies at 75
- 1972 Michael Taube, Polish composer, dies at 81
- 1974 Harry Ruby [Harry Rubenstein], American composer and screenwriter, dies at 79
- 1995 Melvin Franklin (né English), American R&B bass vocalist (The Temptations, 1960-94 - "Ball of Confusion"), dies of heart failure at 52
- 1996 Alan Dawson, American jazz drummer and teacher (Berklee, 1957-75), dies of leukemia at 66
- 1997 Oscar Lewenstein, British theater impresario (Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera), and film producer (The Knack ...and How to Get It), dies of heart failure at 80
- 1997 Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (Miles Davis), dies at 51
- 1999 Ruth Gipps, British prolific conductor and composer, dies of cancer at 78
- 2000 Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957)
- 2001 Ruth Railton, British musical director (National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, 1948-65), dies at 85
- 2003 Howard "Howie" Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1982-2002), dies from an overdose at 47
- 2004 Bob Mayo, American session keyboardist (Peter Frampton), dies of a heart attack at 52
- 2004 Carl Anderson, American singer (b. 1945)
- 2004 Don Cornell [Luigi Varlaro], American pop singer (Sammy Kaye Orchestra - "Room Full of Roses; solo - "Hold My Hand"), dies of emphysema and diabetes at 84
- 2007 Donnie Brooks, American singer (b. 1936)
- 2011 Jack Gottlieb, American composer, writer and editor, dies at 80
- 2016 Lennie Baker, American rock saxophonist musician (Sha Na Na, 1970-99), dies at 69
- 2019 Dorothy Masuka, Zimbabwe-born South African jazz singer and activist, dies from complications of a stroke at 83
- 2021 Sergiu Natra [Nadler], Romanian-Israeli composer (Symphony in Red, Blue, Yellow and Green), and music professor (Tel Aviv University, 1975-85), dies at 96
- 2022 Jaakko Kuusisto, Finnish violinist, composer, and conductor, dies of brain cancer at 48
Assassination
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Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning