Tammy Wynette (1942-1998)
May 5 American country singer ("Stand By Your Man"; "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"), born in Itawamba County, Mississippi
- May 8 (Euclid) Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood, American rock saxophonist and vocalist (Mothers Of Invention), born in Arkansas City, Kansas (d. 2011)
- May 9 Mike Millward, British guitarist (The Fourmost - "A Little Loving"), born in Bromborough, Cheshire, England (d. 1966)
- May 9 Tommy Roe, American pop-rock singer ("Sheila"; "Dizzy"), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- May 9 Val Garay, American record producer and engineer ("Bette Davis Eyes"), born in San Francisco, California
- May 10 Bill Coday, American musician and singer (You’re Gonna Want Me), born in Coldwater, Mississippi (d. 2008)
- May 10 Ingram Douglass Marshall, American composer (Alcatraz; Fragility Cycles), born in Mount Vernon, New York
- May 12 Billy Swan, American country-rock singer-songwriter ("I Can Help"), born in Cape Giradeau, Louisiana
- May 12 Ian Dury, English rock musician (The Blockheads) and actor (Judge Dredd), born in Upminster, Essex (d. 2000)
- May 13 Jim Douglas, Scottish jazz guitarist, born in Gifford, East Lothian
- May 14 Gerald Shapiro, American classical and electro-acoustic composer (The Voice of the Dharma; In Time's Sahdow), and educator (Brown university), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- May 17 Taj Mahal [Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, Jr.], American singer-songwriter (Real Thing), born in Harlem, New York
- May 18 Rodney Dillard, American musician (Glittergrass), born in Salem, Missouri
- May 20 Paula [Jill Jackson], American pop singer ("Hey Paula"), born in McCamey, Texas
- May 22 Calvin Simon, American funk and gospel vocalist (Parliament/Funkadelic - "Livin' the Life"), born in Beckley, West Virginia (d. 2022)
- May 22 Malika Sabirova, Soviet Tajik ballet dancer, born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (d. 1982)
- May 24 Derek Quinn, British guitarist (Freddie and the Dreamers - "I'm Telling You Now"), born in Manchester, England (d. 2020)
- May 25 Brian "Blinky" Davison, British rocker (The Nice), born in Leicester, England (d. 2008)
- May 26 Ray Ennis, British rock guitarist (Swinging Blue Jeans - "You're No Good"), born in Huyton, England
- May 27 Priscilla McLean (née Taylor), American composer, performer, and music critic, born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts
About May 1942
How Old? 81 or 82 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Leap Year: No