Musicians Who Died on March 28

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Russian composer (Boris Godunov; Night on Bald Mountain; Pictures at an Exhibition), dies from complications of alcoholism at 42

1885 Fredrick Vilhelm Ludvig Norman, Swedish composer, dies at 53
1907 Pavel Ivanovich Blaramberg, Russian composer, dies at 65
1910 Édouard Colonne, French violinist and conductor, dies at 71
1914 Hanus Trnecek, composer, dies at 55
1918 Johann Christoph Lauterbach, German violinist and concert master, dies at 87
1927 Karl Prohaska, Austrian composer, dies at 57
1928 Giuseppe Ferrata, Italian composer and pianist, dies at 63

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), dies at 69

1947 Rudolph Simonsen, Danish composer (Olympic Arts bronze, 1928 - Symphony No. 2 (Hellas)), and educator (Royal Danish Academy, 1916-47), dies at 57
1949 Grigoras Dinicu, Romanian violin virtuoso and composer, dies at 59

W. C. Handy (1873-1958)

American composer and musician known as the "Father of the Blues" (Memphis Blues, St Louis Blues), dies of bronchial pneumonia at 84

1963 Alec Templeton, Welsh pianist and composer (Concertino Lirico), dies at 52
1971 Felix Wolfes, German-American conductor, educator (New England Conservatory, 1948-68), and composer, dies at 78
1974 Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist (That's Alright), dies of a heart attack at 68
1974 Dino Ciani, Italian pianist, dies in a car accident at 32
1974 Dorothy Fields, American singer (The Way You Look Tonight), dies at 68
1975 Renzo Massarani, Italian composer, dies at 77
1980 John Poulos, American drummer (The Buckinghams - "Kind Of A Drag"), dies of heart failure at 32
1980 Richard "Dick" Haymes, Argentine-American actor and singer (State Fair, Real Life, Betrayal), dies of lung cancer at 61
1984 Carmen Dragon, American composer and conductor (Hollywood Bowl Symphony), dies of cancer at 69
1987 Maria Augusta von Trapp, Austrian singer who inspired the "Sound of Music" (Trapp Family Singers), dies of heart failure at 82
1992 Josef Matej, Czech composer, dies at 70
1999 Freaky Tah, American rapper (Lost Boyz) (b. 1971)
2001 Moe Koffman, Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist (Cool and Hot Sax), dies at 72
2001 Vlastimir Nikolovski, Macedonian composer and pedagogue, (The Serdar), dies at 74
2003 (Farrell) "Rusty" Draper, American country and pop singer ("The Shifting, Whispering Sands"; "Are You Satisfied?"), dies of pneumonia at 80
2005 Dame Moura Lympany, British pianist (b. 1916)
2006 Proinsias Ó Maonaigh, Irish musician (b. 1922)
2011 Lee Hoiby, American concert pianist composer (1957 Arts & Letters; Summer and Smoke), dies at 85
2012 Alexander Arutiunian [Harut'unyan], Soviet Armenian classical pianist and composer (Trumpet Concerto), dies at 91
2012 Earl Scruggs, American bluegrass banjo player (Flatt & Scruggs - "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"; "Ballad of Jed Clampett"), dies from natural causes at 88
2013 Hugh McCracken, American session guitarist (Aretha Franklin; Paul McCartney; Steely Dan; Billy Joel; John Lennon), dies of luekemia at 70
2015 Douglas Leedy, American composer, dies at 77
2015 Ronald Stevenson, Scottish-Welsh composer (9 Haiku; Ben Dorain Symphony), pianist, and educator, dies at 87
2020 Jan Howard [Lula Grace Johnson], American country music singer and songwriter (For Loving You), dies at 91
2021 Malcolm Cecil, British jazz bassist, record producer, audio engineer and electronic musician (Ronnie Scott; Blues Incorporated; TONTO's Expanding Head Band), dies at 84
2023 Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese musician (Yellow Magic Orchestra) and Academy Award-winning film composer (The Last Emperor), dies of cancer at 71 [1]