Musicians Who Died on May 8
- 1684 Henri Dumont, Dutch composer, dies at 73 or 74
- 1818 Franz Ignaz Kaa, German composer, dies at 78
- 1829 Mauro Giuliani, Italian musician and composer, dies at 47
- 1846 Giacomo Cordella, Italian composer, dies at 59
- 1885 Pavel Křížkovský, Czech choral composer and conductor (Sts. Cyril and Methodius), dies at 65
- 1930 (Ivar) Henning Mankell, Swedish pianist and composer, dies at 61
- 1941 Heinrich Zöllner, German composer, dies at 86
- 1948 Alfred Holy, Czech composer and harpist, dies at 81
- 1959 Renato Caccioppoli, Italian mathematician and pianist, takes his own life at 55
- 1960 Hugo Alfvén, Swedish violinist, conductor, and composer (Midsommarvaka - Midsummer Vigil), dies at 88
- 1967 LaVerne Andrews, American pop and swing jazz singer (The Andrews Sisters - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"; "Rum and Coca-Cola"), dies of cancer at 55
- 1974 Graham Bond, British R&B musician, dies jumping under a train at 36
- 1985 Karl Marx, German composer and conductor, dies at 87
- 1990 Luigi Nono, Italian avant-garde composer (Intolleranza), dies at 66
- 1991 Jean Langlais, French organist, and composer (Missa Salve Regina), dies at 84
- 1993 Kees Deenik, Dutch singer, bandleader, and broadcaster, dies at 78-ish
- 1995 Carroll Best, American bluegrass banjo player and educator, shot to death by his brother at 64
- 1995 Teresa Teng [Li-chun], Taiwanese pop singer ("Aijin"; "The Power Of Love"; "Airport"), and actress, dies from a severe asthma attack at 42
- 1996 Celedonio Romero, Spanish-American guitarist (The Romero Guitar Quartet), composer (La Catedral de Colonia), and poet, dies of lung cancer at 83
- 1996 Jane Cowan, British cello teacher (International Cello Centre), dies at 80
- 2000 Karl-Rudi Griesbach, German composer, dies at 83
- 2006 Viola Mae Wilkerson, American pop singer ("Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now"), dies of cancer at 69
- 2007 Carson Whitsett, American session keyboard player and songwriter ("Don't Give Up On Me"), dies of brain cancer at 62
- 2008 Eddy Arnold, American country music singer ("Make The World Go Away"; "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye"), dies at 89
- 2008 Larry Levine, American sound engineer (Phil Spector's wall of sound; Herb Alpert; Beach Boys), dies of emphysema on his 80th birthday
- 2011 Cornell Dupree, American jazz and R&B session guitarist (Atlantic Records - Aretha Franklin), dies of emphysema at 68
- 2015 (Antoni) "Ton" Hartsuiker, Dutch pianist, composer, broadcaster, and educator, dies at 81
- 2015 Jaime León, Colombian pianist, composer, and conductor Filarmónica de Bogota, 1971-78), dies at 93
- 2017 Robert Gutter, American conductor and teacher (founded International Institute for Conductors, 1996), dies at 78
- 2021 Curtis Fuller, American jazz trombonist (Yusef Lateef; John Coltrane; Farmer/Golson Jazztet), dies at 88
- 2022 Dennis Waterman, English stage and screen actor (Fair Exchange; Minder; The Sweeney), and singer, dies of lung cancer at 74
- 2023 Rita Lee [Jones], Brazilian rock singer, songwriter and musician (Os Mutantes), dies at 75 [1]
Assassination
Drug Overdose
Gunshot Wound
Murder
Plane Crash
Suicide