1831 Rodolphe Kreutzer, French composer (La mort d'Abel) and virtuoso violinist, dies at 64
1847 Tyagaraja [Kakarla Thyagabrahmam], Mulukanadu Brahmin classical Carnatic music vocalist and composer (Pancharatna Kritis), dies at 79
1856 Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, French harpist, composer, forger, and bigamist, dies at 66
1933 Vladimir de Pachmann, Russian-German pianist, dies at 84
1942 Emma Calvé [Calvet], French operatic soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1893-1904), dies at 83
1959 Jose Enrique Pedreira, Puerto Rican composer ("Tus Caricias"; "Siempre"), and pedagogue, dies at 54
1980 Georgeanna Tillman, American singer (The Marvelettes - "Please Mr. Postman"), dies from lupus and sickle cell anemia at 37
1987 Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson, Chilean composer, dies at 87
1991 Ahmet Adnan Saygun, Turkish composer, dies at 83
1993 John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, American jazz trumpeter, a creator of bebop & modern jazz (A Night In Tunisia), dies of cancer at 75
1993 Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-Austrian ballet dancer and choreographer (Kirov Ballet, 1958-61; Royal Ballet, 1964-70; Paris Opera Ballet. 1983-89), dies of AIDS at 54
1995 James Clay, American jazz tenor saxophonist, dies at 59
1996 (Robert) "Chubby" Wise, American bluegrass fiddler, dies at 80
1996 Johnny Johnston, American singer and actor (Make that Spare), dies at 80
1998 Georgy Sviridov, Soviet Russian neo-romantic composer (The Blizzard; Time; Forward!), dies of a heart attack at 82
1999 Michel Petrucciani, French jazz pianist (100 Hearts), dies from a pulmonary infection at 36
2006 Lou Rawls, American soul singer-songwriter and producer ("You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine"), dies of cancer at 72
2007 "Sneaky Pete" Kleinow, American country-rock session and touring pedal-steel guitarist (Flying Burrito Brothers; George Harrison, Jackson Browne), dies at 72
2009 Claude Jeter, American gospel music singer (The Swan Silvertones), dies at 94
2009 Ron Asheton, American guitarist, bassist, and songwriter (The Stooges), dies of an apparent heart attack at 60 [exact date estimated]
2009 Vivienne Della Chiesa, American lyric soprano who sang on US radio during the 1940s and early 1950s (The American Album of Familiar Music, The Standard Hour), dies at 93
2010 Shelly Kurland, American educator, classically trained session violinist and string arranger for country music recordings (Shelly Kurland Strings), dies at 81
2012 W. Francis McBeth, American composer (Of Sailors and Whales), conductor, and pedagogue (Ouachita Baptist University, 1957-96), dies at 78
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide