On This Day

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Musicians Who Died on July 17

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  • 1682 Johann Heinrich Kittel, German organist and composer, dies at 29
  • 1709 Pascal Collasse, French Baroque theatre composer, dies at 60
  • 1763 Wenzel Raimund Pirck, Austrian organist composer at the court of Marie Theresa, dies at 45
  • 1794 Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, French composer, executed by guillotine after false charges of treason during French Revolution at 45 [1]
  • 1804 Christian Ernst Graf, Dutch composer, dies at 80
  • 1826 Joseph Graetz, German organist, composer, and music educator, dies at 65
  • 1851 Béni Egressy, Hungarian composer, librettist, and actor, dies at 37
  • 1871 Carl Tausig, Polish pianist, student and protégé of Liszt, and composer noted for his transcriptions, dies of typhoid at 29
  • 1875 Gábor Mátray, Hungarian composer and musicologist, dies at 77
  • 1901 John Farmer, English composer, dies at 64
  • 1912 Dorothy Goetz Berlin, newlywed bride of songwriter Irving Berlin, dies of typhoid fever contracted during their Havana honeymoon at 20
  • 1915 Francesco Fanciulli, American-Italian composer, dies at 62
  • 1937 Henri-Constant-Gabriel Pierne, French composer, dies at 73
  • 1953 Bernhard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer, Dutch composer, dies at 65
  • 1955 Bronisław Szulc, Polish conductor and composer, dies at 73
  • 1956 Jozef de Voght, Flemish priest and songwriter (Under the Snow), dies at 78

Billie Holiday (1915-1959)

American jazz singer ("I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm"; "Strange Fruit"), and songwriter ("God Bless The Child"; "Lady Sings the Blues"), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 44

Billie Holiday
  • 1965 Luiz Cosme, Brazilian composer, dies at 57
  • 1966 August Baeyens, Flemish composer (Piranesi Suite), dies at 71

John Coltrane (1926-1967)

American jazz saxophonist and composer ("Blue Train"; "My Favorite Things"; "A Love Supreme"), dies of liver cancer at 40

John Coltrane
  • 1971 Cliff Edwards "Ukulele Ike", American singer (54th Street Revue; "When You Wish Upon a Star"), dies at 76
  • 1983 Roosevelt Sykes, American blues and boogie-woogie pianist, and singer ("The Honeydripper"), dies of a heart attack at 77
  • 1984 J Delos Jewkes, American light opera, vaudeville, choral (Mormon Tabernacle), film and television bass singer, and actor (Stars And Stripes Forever; The Music Man; The Andy Griffith Show), dies of a heart attack at 89
  • 1985 Czesław Marek, Polish composer, dies at 93
  • 1987 Howard McGhee, American be-bop bebop jazz trumpeter, dies at 69
  • 1995 Carlos Sánchez Málaga, Peruvian composer, dies at 91
  • 1995 Rainer Kunad, German composer, dies at 58
  • 1996 Amancio D'Silva, Goan-Indian jazz guitarist and composer, dies after several stokes at 60
  • 1996 Chris Komar, American ballet dancer and artistic director (Milwaukee Ballet, 1969-72; Merce Cunningham Dance Company, 1972-93), dies of AIDS at 48
  • 1996 [Bryan] Chas Chandler, English rock bassist (The Animals - "House of the Rising Sun"), and manager of Jimi Hendrix, dies at 57
  • 1998 Ronald Tremain, New Zealand composer, dies at 74
  • 1999 Kevin Wilkinson, British drummer (The Waterboys), commits suicide at 41
  • 2003 Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist (Bach & Rock), dies at 88
  • 2005 (Lorenzo) "Laurel" Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of Caribbean pop and ska music, dies of a heart attack at 78
  • 2006 Sam Myers, American blues singer, harmonica player, drummer, and songwriter ("Sleeping in the Ground"), dies at 70
  • 2009 Gordon Waller, Scottish pop singer (Peter & Gordon - "A World Without Love"), dies at 64
  • 2010 Fred F. Carter Jr., American country session guitarist, singer, producer and composer (Nashville's "A-Team"), dies of a stroke at 76
  • 2012 Ilhan Mimaroglu, Turkish electronic music composer and musician, dies at 86
  • 2013 Peter Appleyard, British-Canadian jazz vibraphonist, dies from natural causes at 84
  • 2014 Elaine Stritch, American stage and screen actress (30 Rock; Two's Company), singer and member of the American Theater Hall of Fame, dies in her sleep at 89
  • 2016 Gary S. Paxton [Larry Wayne Stevens], American musician and songwriter ("Monster Mash"; "Alley Oop"), dies at 77
  • 2020 Zizi Jeanmaire, French dancer, singer and actress (Carmen), dies at 96
  • 2021 Graham Vick, British opera director (Birmingham Opera Company, 1987-2020), dies of COVID-19 complications at 67


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