Musicians Who Died on September 20

  • 1460 Gilles Binchois, Franco-Flemish composer of early Renaissance music, dies at about 60
  • 1590 Lodovico Agostini, Italian composer, dies at about 56
  • 1630 Claudio Saracini, Italian composer, dies at 44
  • 1647 Giovanni Del Turco, Italian composer, dies at 70
  • 1648 Ivan Lukačić, Croatian composer, dies at 61
  • 1706 Pierre Verdier, French composer working in Sweden, dies at 79
  • 1823 Daniel Steibelt, German pianist and composer, dies at 57
  • 1886 John Liptrot Hatton, English composer and pianist, dies at 77
  • 1896 Gottfried Conradi, Norwegian composer, dies at 76
  • 1897 Karel Bendl, Czech composer, dies at 59
  • 1905 Walter Cecil Macfarren, British pianist, teacher (Royal Academy, 1846-1903), conductor, and composer, dies at 79
  • 1908 Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (Spanish Dancer), dies at 64
  • 1949 Nikolaos Skalkottas, Greek composer, dies due to an untreated hernia at 45

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Finnish composer (Valse Triste, Finlandia), dies at 91

  • 1960 Michel Brusselmans, Belgian composer, dies at 74
  • 1962 Curley Weaver, American blues guitarist, dies of uremia at 56
  • 1967 Henri Mulet, French organist, cellist, and composer (Carillon-Sortie; Esquisses Byzantines), dies at 88
  • 1968 Frank Pelleg [Pollack], Czech-Israeli harpsichordist, pianist, conductor and educator, dies at 57
  • 1973 Ben Webster, American jazz tenor saxophonist, dies at 64
  • 1973 Jack Marshall, American jazz and session guitarist, film and television composer, arranger, and record producer (Capitol Records), dies at 51

Jim Croce (1943-1973)

American singer-songwriter ("Time in a Bottle"; "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"), dies in a plane crash at 30

  • 1973 Maurice T. "Maury" Muehleisen, American musician and songwriter (Jim Croce), dies in a plane crash at 24
  • 1974 Robert Herberigs, Flemish composer (La Chanson d'Eve), dies at 88
  • 1975 Vincent Lopez, American pianist and big band bandleader ("Nola"), dies at 79
  • 1976 Johan Boskamp, Dutch opera singer and actor, dies at 85
  • 1982 Karel Krautgartner, Czech jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger, composer, conductor and teacher, dies at 60
  • 1984 Steve Goodman, American folk singer and songwriter ("City O f New Orleans"; "Chicken Cordon Blues"), dies of leukemia at 36
  • 1994 Jimmy Hamilton, American jazz saxophonist, dies at 77
  • 1994 Jule Styne [Julius Stein], British-American Academy and Tony Award-winning songwriter ("Three Coins In The Fountain"; "Time After Time"), and Broadway composer (Funny Girl; Hallelujah, Baby!; Gypsy), dies at 88
  • 1996 Paul Draper, American tap dancer and choreographer, dies at 87
  • 1996 Paul Weston [Wetstein], American pianist, arranger, orchestra leader (Tommy Dorsey Orchestra; The Jim Nabors Show), pop and classical composer ("Day By Day"; "Crescent City Suite"), dies from natural causes at 84
  • 1999 Tahia Carioca, Egyptian actress and belly dancer (Watch Out For Zouzou), dies at 79
  • 2006 Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor, dies at 74
  • 2006 John W. Peterson, American hymn writer ("It Took a Miracle"), publisher and editor (Singspiration), dies of prostate cancer at 84
  • 2007 Juraj Pospíšil, Czech composer (November Triptych), and pedagogue (Bratislavia Conservatory, 1955-91), dies at 76
  • 2010 Leonard Skinner, American high school gym teacher; namesake of rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, dies at 77
  • 2011 Robert Whitaker, British photographer whose work was used on Beatles and Cream album covers, dies at 71
  • 2014 Polly Bergen [Nellie Burgin], American actress, singer, television host, and writer (Winds of War - "Rhoda"; The Helen Morgan Story), dies of natural causes at 84
  • 2015 Jack Larson, American actor (The Adventures of Superman -"Jimmy Olsen"), screenwriter, and librettist (Virgil Thomson's "Lord Byron"), dies at 87
  • 2021 Sarah Dash, American pop, R&B, and disco singer (Patti LaBelle & Bluebirds; Labelle - "Lady Marmalade"), dies at 76
  • 2023 Katherine Anderson, American singer (The Marvelettes - "Please Mr. Postman"; "Don't Mess With Bill"), dies at 79