Musicians Who Died on May 1

  • 1679 Esaias Reusner, German lutenist and composer, dies at 43
  • 1731 Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer, dies at 54
  • 1874 Vilém Blodek [Plodek], Czech pianist, flautist, and composer, dies at 39
  • 1886 Heinrich Franz Daniel Stiehl, composer, dies at 56
  • 1903 Luigi Arditi, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 80
  • 1904 Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (Slavonic Dances; New World Symphony; Cello Concerto in b, Op. 104), dies at 62
  • 1921 Louis Campbell-Tipton, American composer, dies at 43
  • 1934 Alexander Alexandrovich Davidenko, Soviet composer, dies at 35
  • 1945 Desider Antalffy-Zsiross, Hungarian organist and composer, dies at 59
  • 1946 Edward Bairstow, English composer, dies at 71
  • 1946 Percy Whitlock, English composer and organist, dies at 42
  • 1965 Leo Spies, Russian-born German composer, dies at 65
  • 1965 Spike Jones [Lindley Armstrong Jones], American bandleader (Der Fueher's Face, Cocktails For Two), dies from emphysema at 53
  • 1972 Fernand Ansseau, Belgian opera singer (Orfeo), dies at 82
  • 1978 Aram Khachaturian, Armenian composer (Masquerade Suite, Gayane), dies at 74
  • 1982 William Primrose, Scottish violist (Method for Violin & Viola), dies at 77
  • 1984 Gordon Jenkins, American arranger and orchestra leader (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra), dies of Lou Gehrig's disease at 73
  • 1986 Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and record producer, dies at 69
  • 1989 Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist (Zagreb Soloists), dies at 71
  • 1992 Sharon Redd, American house music and urban contemporary singer (b. 1945)
  • 1996 Billy Byers, American jazz trombonist and arranger, dies on his 79th birthday
  • 1999 (Edwin) Eddie Chamblee, American jazz and R&B saxophonist, bandleader, and occasional vocalist, dies at 79
  • 2006 Big Hawk, American rapper (b.1969)
  • 2006 Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (b. 1940)
  • 2010 Antonio Mastrogiovanni, Uruguayan composer, dies at 73
  • 2010 Rob McConnell, Canadian jazz composer, arranger and valve trombonist (The Boss Brass), dies of liver cancer at 75
  • 2012 Charles "skip" Pitts, American soul and blues guitarist, dies from lung cancer at 65
  • 2015 (Alexander) "Bobby" Kok, Boer-British classical and session cellist (BBC Symphony; George Harrison - "When We Was Fab"), dies at 89
  • 2015 Grace Lee Whitney, American singer and actress (Yeoman Rand-Star Trek), dies at 85
  • 2018 John "Jabo" Starks, American drummer (James Brown, The J.B.'s), dies at 79
  • 2018 Max Berrú, Ecuadorian-Chilean musician, dies at 74
  • 2018 Wanda Wiłkomirska, Polish violinist and teacher, dies at 89
  • 2022 Régine [Zylberberg], French singer and nightclub owner, dies at 92
  • 2022 Ric Parnell, British rock drummer (Atomic Rooster; Spinal Tap), dies at 70 [1]

Gordon Lightfoot (1938-2023)

Canadian folk singer ("Sundown"; "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald"), dies at 84 [1]