On This Day

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Musicians Who Died on January 23

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  • 1548 Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer, dies at 57
  • 1708 Thomas Bullis, English composer, dies at 80 (buried)
  • 1805 Vaclav Pichl, Czech composer, dies at 63
  • 1837 John Field, Irish pianist and composer (Nocturnes), dies at 54
  • 1845 Francesco Ruggi, Italian composer, dies at 77
  • 1864 Michele Puccini, Italian organist and composer (father of Giacomo), dies at 50
  • 1879 Adolf Jensen, German composer, dies of tuberculosis at 42
  • 1893 Phillips Brooks, American Episcopal bishop and composer (Little Town of Bethlehem), dies at 57
  • 1898 W. A. Remy [Wilhelm Mayer], Austro-Bohemian composer, dies at 66
  • 1908 Edward Alexander MacDowell, American composer (Indian Suite), dies at 47
  • 1921 Wlasyslaw Zelenski, Polish composer, dies at 83
  • 1922 Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor (Berlin Philharmonic), dies at 66
  • 1926 Joseph Carl Breil, American lyric tenor, and composer - one of the first to write for film (Les amours de la reine Élisabeth; Birth of a Nation; Intolerance), dies of heart disease at 55
  • 1931 Anna Pavlova, Russian prima ballerina and choreographer (Diaghilew, Dying Swan), dies from pneumonia at 49
  • 1936 Clara Butt, English alto singer (Country of Hope and Glory), dies at 62
  • 1941 Dobri Khristov, Bulgarian composer, dies at 65
  • 1964 Louis Horst, American dance choreographer and composer, dies at 80
  • 1969 Jaroslav Křička, Czech composer, dies at 86
  • 1972 Big Maybelle [Mabel Smith], American R&B singer (A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On; Candy), dies from complications of diabetes at 47
  • 1973 Edward "Kid" Ory, American New Orleans style jazz trombonist, and band leader, dies of pneumonia and a heart attack at 86

Paul Robeson (1898-1976)

American stage and screen bass-baritone singer ("Old Man River"), actor, and civil rights activist, dies of stroke complications in Philadelphia at 77

Paul Robeson
  • 1977 Dick Burnett, American musician ("Man of Constant Sorrow"), dies at 93
  • 1978 Terry Kath, American rock guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist (Chicago - "Make Me Smile"), accidentally shoots himself in head at 31
  • 1978 Vic Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers - "Tammy"), dies in a car accident at 52
  • 1980 Babs Gonzales [Lee Brown], American be-bop jazz vocalist, poet, and songwriter ("Oop-Pop-A-Da"), dies of cancer at 60
  • 1981 Bobby Sherwood, American jazz and session guitarist (Bing Crosby, 1933-40), big band bandleader, and disc jockey, dies of cancer at 66

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

American composer (School for Scandal; Adagio For Strings), dies of cancer at 70

Samuel Barber
  • 1984 Dean Goffin, New Zealand composer, dies at 67
  • 1984 Samuel Gardner, American composer, dies at 92
  • 1990 (Larken) Allen Collins, American southern rock guitarist, and songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Free Bird"; "Gimme Three Steps"; Rossington-Collins Band - "Don't Misunderstand Me"), dies from chronic pneumonia, a complication of the paralysis suffered in a drunk driving accident, at 37
  • 1990 [Piet] "Peter" Sweval, American rock bassist (Looking Glass - "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" ; Starz - "Cherry Baby"), dies of AIDS at 42
  • 1993 Charles "Majeed" Greenlee, American jazz trombonist (Archie Shepp), dies at 65
  • 1993 Thomas A. Dorsey, American jazz pianist (Take My Hand, Precious Lord), dies at 93
  • 1995 Bill Horton, American doo-wop singer (The Silhouettes - "Get A Job"), dies at 65
  • 1997 Audie Pitre, American bass guitarist (Acid Bath), killed by a drunk driver at 26
  • 1997 Charles Craig, English opera singer, dies at 77
  • 1997 Richard Berry, African-American singer and musician (Louie Louie), dies at 61
  • 1999 Prince Lincoln Thompson, Jamaican musician (b. 1949)
  • 2001 Eugene [Brother Jack] McDuff, American jazz organist (George Benson, Brother Jack), dies of heart failure at 74
  • 2001 Lou Levy, American jazz pianist (Woody Herman; Stan Getz), and accompanist (Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald), dies of a heart attack at 72
  • 2002 Igor Kipnis, American harpsichordist, pianist, conductor, and educatordies of renal cancer at 71
  • 2009 George Perle, American composer (12 Tone Tonality), dies at 93
  • 2014 Elmira Nazirova, Azerbaijani-Israeli classical pianist, composer, and educator, dies at 85
  • 2014 Riz Ortolani, Italian Grammy Award-winning composer and arranger, predominantly of film scores (Mondo Cane - "More"), dies at 87
  • 2017 Bobby Freeman, American singer (Do You Want to Dance), dies at 76
  • 2018 Hugh Masekela, South African trumpeter, described as the "father of South African jazz" ("Grazing in the Grass"; "Soweto Blues"; Sarafina!), and anti-apartheid activist dies of prostate cancer at 78
  • 2018 Lari White, American country music singer and actress (You Can Be a Star winner- 1988), dies of peritoneal cancer at 52
  • 2019 Oliver Mtukudzi, Zimbabwean Afro-Jazz and 'tuku' singer-songwriter and guitarist (Sarawoga; Tolerance; Tuku Music), dies of diabetes complications at 66 [1]
  • 2021 Trisha Noble (aka Patsy Ann), Australian pop singer ("Good Looking Boy"), and actress, dies of mesothelioma at 76
  • 2022 Beegie Adair [Bobbe Long], American jazz and Nashville-based session pianist, and educator, dies at 84
  • 2024 Melanie [Safka], American singer-songwriter ("Brand New Key"; "What Have They Done to My Song Ma"; "Candles in Rain"), dies at 76 [1] [2]


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