Musicians Who Died on March 17

  • 1801 Juan de Sesé y Balaguer, Aragonese composer, dies at 64
  • 1803 Candido Jose Ruano, Spanish composer, dies at 42
  • 1855 Ramon Carnicer y Batlle, Spanish composer, dies at 65
  • 1857 Adolph Trube, German composer and organist, dies at 42
  • 1861 Petter Conrad Boman, Swedish composer, dies at 56
  • 1862 Fromental Halévy, French composer, dies at 62
  • 1895 Adolphe Nibelle, French composer (Le Loup-Garou (The Werewolf)), dies at 69
  • 1902 George William Warren, American hymn composer, dies at 73
  • 1910 Joaquin Valverde Durán, Spanish composer, dies at 64
  • 1927 James Scott Skinner, Scottish fiddler and composer, dies at 83
  • 1953 Conrado del Campo y Zabaleta, Spanish composer and violinist, dies at 73
  • 1959 Raffaele d'Alessandro, Swiss pianist, organist, and composer, dies of a ruptured aorta on his 48th birthday
  • 1963 Lizzie Miles [Elizabeth Landreaux], Creole-American jazz, blues and gospel singer ("Man O'War"), dies of a heart attack at 68
  • 1963 William Henry Squire, British composer and cellist, dies at 91
  • 1966 Walter Lang, Swiss composer, dies at 69
  • 1980 Rudolf George Escher, Dutch composer (Vrai Visage de la Paix), dies at 68
  • 1983 Ray Barr, American pianist (Vincent Lopez Show), dies at 70
  • 1985 Anita Boyer, American radio and big band singer (Tommy Dorsey - "I Concentrate On You"), dies at 69 [1]
  • 1988 Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer, dies at 38
  • 1989 Marek Bliziński, Polish jazz guitarist and composer, dies of skin cancer at 41
  • 1990 Rick Grech, British musician (Blind Faith, Traffic), dies at 44
  • 1995 Sunnyland Slim, American jazz, blues singer and pianist (Delta Blues), dies at 87
  • 1996 Terry Stafford, American singer (b. 1941)
  • 1997 Jermaine Stewart, American R&B singer (We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off), dies of cancer at 37
  • 1998 Bernarr Rainbow, English historian of music education, organist, and choir master, dies at 83
  • 1999 Ernest Gold, Austrian-born American film composer (Exodus), dies at 77
  • 2005 (Eduardo) "Lalo" Guerrero, American guitarist, Chicano singer-songwriter (Los Carlistas), and women's rights activist, dies at 88
  • 2006 Bob Blue, American singer/songwriter (b. 1948)
  • 2006 Chuck Tharp, American rock vocalist (The Fireballs - "Sugar Shack"), dies of cancer at 65
  • 2007 Roger Bennett, American Southern Gospel performer (b. 1959)
  • 2010 Alex Chilton, American rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer (Box Tops - "The Letter"; Big Star - "Thirteen"), dies of a heart attack at 59
  • 2010 Charlie Gillett, British pop-rock and world music radio presenter and writer (The Sound of the City), dies at 68
  • 2011 Ferlin Husky, American country singer (Born to Lose, Gone), dies at 85
  • 2014 Joseph Kerman, American educator and musicologist (Contemplating Music: Challenges to Musicology), dies at 89
  • 2019 Barbara Benary, American composer (Gamelon Son Of Lion), dies at 73
  • 2019 [Zephire] Andre Williams, American R&B musician ("Jailbait"; "Shake a Tail Feather"), dies at 82
  • 2021 Freddie Redd, American hard-bop jazz pianist, organist, and composer, dies at 92
  • 2023 Clarence "Fuzzy" Haskins, American pop, R&B, and funk singer-songwriter (Parliament-Funkadelic - "Knee Deep"), dies at 81 [1]