- 1590 Ascanio Trombeti, Italian composer, dies at 45
- 1809 Alexander Reinagle, English-American composer, dies at 53
- 1812 Emmanuel Schikaneder, German performing arts impresario, dramatist, actor, singer, and librettist (Mozart's "Magic Flute"), dies at 61
- 1836 John Stafford Smith, British organist, and composer ("The Anacreontic Song", later used for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner"), dies at 86
- 1839 (Jacob) Gottfried Weber, German composer, and writer (Theory of Musical Composition), dies at 60
- 1953 Roger Quilter, British composer, dies at 75
- 1956 Robert Mills Delaney, American composer, dies at 53
- 1961 Maurice Delage, French composer, dies at 81
- 1973 William Plomer, South African-British libretto writer (Curlew River), dies at 69
- 1980 Ernest White, Canadian organist, organ designer, and composer, dies at 79
- 1980 Willem Ravelli, Dutch baritone singer (St Matthew Passion), dies at 88
- 1981 Tony Aubin, French composer (Actaeon; Sinfonie Romantique), conductor, and educator (Paris Conservatory, 1944-77), dies at 73
- 1982 (C. Dudley) "Pete" King, American film and easy listening music arranger and composer (The Pied Piper of Hamelin; The Last of the Secret Agents?),dies at 68
- 1987 Jaco Pastorius, American jazz-fusion musician and bass guitarist (Weather Report; Joni Mitchell; Word of Mouth), dies from injuries sustained in a bar fight at 35
- 1995 Vernell Townsend, American blues and gospel singer, dies at 64
- 1996 Sulkhan Nasidze, Georgian composer, dies at 69
- 1998 Dragutin Gostuški, Serbian composer (Concerto Accelerato), musicologist, and educator, dies at 75
- 2000 Bengt Hambraeus, Swedish Canadian composer and organist, dies at 72
- 2003 Tom Glazer, American folk singer and songwriter (Because All Men Are Brothers; A Dollar Ain't A Dollar Anymore), dies at 88
- 2006 Raymond "Boz" Burrell, British rock bassist and singer (King Crimson, 1971-72; Bad Company, 1973-82), dies of a heart attack at 60
- 2007 Alice Ghostley, American stage and screen actress (Bewitched, 1969-72 - "Esmeralda"; Designing Women, 1986-93 - "Bernice"), and singer dies of colon cancer and stroke complications at 84
- 2010 Geoffrey Burgon, British jazz trumpeter, and film, television and concert composer (City Adventures), dies at 69
- 2013 Roman Vlad, Romanian-born Italian composer, dies at 93
- 2015 Ben Cauley, American R&B trumpeter (The Bar-Kays - "Soul Finger") and Otis Redding plane crash survivor, dies at 67
- 2016 John D. Loudermilk, American country singer and songwriter ("Tobacco Road"; "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye"), dies of cancer at 82
- 2018 José Luis de Delás, Spanish composer and conductor, dies at 90
- 2018 Katherine Hoover, American flautist, composer (Eleni: A Greek Tragedy), teacher, and conductor, dies at 80
- 2019 Christopher Rouse, American Grammy Award-winning composer (Trombone Concerto - Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1993), and educator (Eastman School, 1981-2002; Juilliard, 1997-2017), dies of renal cancer at 70
- 2020 Jacques-Louis Monod, French pianist, conductor, and composer (Cantus Contra Cantum), dies at 93
- 2020 Tommy Devito, American rock baritone vocalist and guitarist (Four Seasons - "Sherry"), dies of COVID-19 at 93
Melvin Van Peebles (1932-2021)
American stage and screen actor, director (Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song; Sophisticated Gent), composer, and novelist, dies at 89
- 2022 Anton Fier, American drummer (The Feelies; The Lounge Lizards; The Golden Palominos), and record producer, dies at 66
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