- 1731 Pierre Danican Philidor, French composer, dies at 50
- 1777 Johann Ernst Bach, German kapellmeister and composer, dies at 55
- 1814 Erik Tulindberg, Finland's first known classical composer, dies at 53
- 1867 Edward Hodges, English organist and composer, dies at 71
- 1896 Johannes Habert, composer, dies at 62
- 1906 Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian playwright, poet, and librettist (Puccini's "La bohème", "Tosca", and "Madama Butterfly"), dies at 58
- 1912 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, African-British composer (Hiawatha's Wedding Feast), dies at 37
- 1941 "Kansas City" Frank [Melrose], American jazz and blues pianist, killed in a bar fight in Hammond, Indiana at 33
- 1957 Dennis Brain, British classical horn player (Serenade), killed in a car wreck at 38
- 1964 George Georgescu, Romanian conductor and composer, dies at 76
- 1964 Otto Emanuel Olsson, Swedish organist and composer, dies at 84
- 1968 Granville English, composer, dies at 69
- 1969 William Flanagan, American composer, and music critic, takes his own life at 46
- 1972 May Aufderheide, American ragtime composer ("Dusty Rag"), dies at 84 [1]
- 1977 Ethel Waters, American actress (Beulah), singer ("Stormy Weather"), dies at 80
- 1978 Olga de Haas, Dutch ballerina, dies as a result of anorexia nervosa at 33
- 1982 Clifford Curzon, British classical pianist (Royal Academy of Music Macfarren Gold Medal), dies at 75
- 1993 Eugen Malmstén, Finnish jazz trumpeter, singer, bandleader, and songwriter, dies at 86
- 1993 Neon Park [Martin Muller], American illustrator of album covers (Little Feat; Frank Zappa), dies of ALS at 52
- 1995 Benay Venuta [Benvenuta Rose Crooke], American actress, singer and dancer (Annie Get Your Gun; Call Me Mister), dies of lung cancer at 84
- 1996 Vagn Holmboe, Danish neo-classical composer (Sinfonia rustica), dies at 86
- 2004 Johnny Bragg, American doo-wop singer-songwriter (The Prisonaires - "Just Walkin' in the Rain"), dies of cancer at 79
- 2005 R. L. Burnside, American blues musician (Deep Blues), dies at 78 (b. 1926)
- 2009 Jake Brockman, British rock keyboardist (Echo & the Bunnymen), dies in a motorcycle accident at 53
- 2012 Hal David, American lyricist ("Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"; "What The World Needs Now Is Love"; "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"), dies at 91
- 2014 Jimi Jamison, American rock singer (Survivor, 1984-89, 2000-06, 2011-14 - "High On You"), dies of a stroke at 63
- 2016 Raymond Daveluy, Canadian organist (St. Joseph's Montreal, 1960-2002), composer and educator, dies at 89
Jimmy Buffett (1946-2023)
American country rock singer-songwriter ("Margaritaville") and restaurant entrepreneur (Margaritaville Cafe), dies of Merkel cell carcinoma (a rare form of skin cancer) at 76 [1]
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning