Musicians Who Died on June 1

  • 1639 Melchior Franck, German composer
  • 1699 Jean Rousseau, French composer and viol player, dies at 54
  • 1763 Johann Caspar Vogler, German composer, dies at 67
  • 1810 Johann Paul Wessely [Jan Pavel Veselý], Czech violinist and composer, dies at 47
  • 1909 Giuseppe Martucci, composer, dies at 53
  • 1918 Friedrich Richard Faltin, composer, dies at 83
  • 1918 Jaroslav Novotny, Czech composer, dies at 32
  • 1926 Vasily Mikhaylovich Metallov, composer, dies at 64
  • 1935 Alberto Cametti, Italian composer, dies at 64
  • 1942 Ernest Pingoud, Finnish composer, dies at 53
  • 1946 Leo Slezak, Moravian dramatic tenor and actor (Othello; Zirkus Saran; Husaren heraus), dies from a heart attack at 72
  • 1948 Sonny Boy Williamson I [John Lee], American blues musician (Down & Out Blues), dies at 34
  • 1955 F Melius Christiansen, composer, dies at 84
  • 1964 Rutkowski Bronislaw, Belarusian organist, pedagogue, and composer, dies at 66
  • 1966 Papa Jack Laine, American musician and pioneering bandleader, dies at 92
  • 1969 Stan Brenders, Belgian jazz pianist and bandleader, dies at 65
  • 1984 Nate Nelson, American singer (Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You), dies at 52
  • 1985 Richard Greene, English stage and screen actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies of cardiac arrest at 66
  • 1991 David Ruffin, American soul musician and early lead singer for The Temptations (My Girl; Ain't Too Proud to Beg), dies of a drug overdose at 50
  • 1995 Prudence Hyman, English dancer, dies at 80
  • 1996 Alan Blakley, British guitarist and record producer (The Tremeloes - "Here Comes My Baby"; "Silence Is Golden"), dies of cancer at 54
  • 1996 Don Grolnick, American jazz pianist, composer and session musician (Brecker Brothers; Linda Ronstadt; James Taylor), dies of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at 48
  • 2006 Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer and actress, dies at 59
  • 2007 Tony Thompson, American singer-songwriter in R&B group Hi-Five, dies at 31
  • 2008 Alton Kelley, American graphic artist, known for concert posters and album cover art (Grateful Dead -"Workingman's Dead"; Steve Miller Band - "Book of Dreams"), dies at 67
  • 2015 Jean Ritchie, American folk singer, dies at 92
  • 2018 Eddy Clearwater [Edward Harrington], American blues musician (West Side Strut), dies of heart failure at 83
  • 2020 Myroslav Skoryk, Ukrainian contemporary classical composer (Carpathian Rhapsody), and pedagogue, dies at 81
  • 2021 Alexander Maykapar, Russian harpsichordist, organist, and musicologist, dies at 74
  • 2023 Cynthia Weil, American songwriter ("We Got Get Out Of This Place"; "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"; "On Broadway"; "He's So Shy"), dies at 82 [1]