- Jan 9 Amilcare Zanella, Italian composer and conductor, dies at 75
- Jan 14 Joaquín Turina, Spanish pianist and composer (Rima), dies at 66
- Jan 25 Emil Axman, Czech composer and musicologist (Moravian folk songs), dies at 61
- Jan 27 Boris Asafiev, Russian composer and music critic, dies at 64
- Jan 28 Gustaf Lazarus Nordqvist, Swedish organist and composer, dies at 62
- Feb 1 Herbert Stothart, American theater (Rose-Marie) and film score composer (The Wizard of Oz; Mutiny on the Bounty; A Night at the Opera), dies at 63
- Feb 5 Juozas Tallat-Kelpsa, Lithuanian composer and conductor, dies at 50
- Feb 8 Franco Leoni, Italian composer, dies at 81
- Feb 8 Leonid Polovinkin, Russian conductor, and composer (Night Dreams), dies at 54
- Feb 9 Poul Schierbeck, Danish organist and composer, dies at 60
- Feb 19 Auguste Serieyx, French pedagogue and composer, dies at 83
- Feb 21 Ernest Walker, British composer, dies at 78
- Feb 28 Stanley Marchant, English composer, dies at 65
- Mar 11 Juan Lamote de Grignon, Catalan pianist, composer (La nit de Nadal (Christmas Night); Hespèria), and orchestra leader (Cobla Barcelona; València Municipal Orchestra), dies at 76
- Mar 28 Grigoras Dinicu, Romanian violin virtuoso and composer, dies at 59
- Apr 3 Basil Harwood, English composer, dies at 89
- May 6 Kunihiko Hashimoto, Japanese composer, violinist, conductor, and musical educator, dies of gastric cancer at 44
- May 22 Hans Pfitzner, German composer (Palestrina), dies at 80
- Jun 2 Dynam-Victor Fumet, French composer, dies at 82
- Jul 7 Bunk Johnson, American jazz trumpeter, dies after a series of strokes at 59 [1]
- Jul 8 Riccardo Pick-Mangiagalli, Italian composer, dies at 66
- Jul 9 Fritz Bennicke Hart, British composer, and conductor (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), dies of cardiac issues at 75
- Jul 18 Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer, dies at 78
- Aug 11 Karl Weigl, Austrian-American pianist, composer (Apocalyptic Symphony), and educator, dies of bone marrow cancer at 68
- Aug 18 Paul J Mares, US jazz trumpetist/composer (Tin Roof Blues), dies at 49
- Aug 21 Gerhard von Keussler, German composer, dies at 75
- Aug 31 Paul Höffer, German composer (Olympic Arts gold, 1936), dies at 53
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Sep 8 German composer (Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote), dies at 85
- Sep 11 Henri Rabaud, French composer and conductor (L'ete), dies at 75
Harry Burleigh (1866-1949)
Sep 12 African American baritone and composer (Five Songs of Laurence Hope), and Springarn Medal winner (1917), dies at 82
- Sep 20 Nikolaos Skalkottas, Greek composer, dies due to an untreated hernia at 45
- Sep 24 Pierre de Bréville, French composer, author and professor (Une histoire du théâtre lyrique en France), dies at 88
- Oct 4 Edmund Eysler, Austrian composer, mostly of operettas (Bruder Straubinger; The Golden Mistress), dies from injuries from falling off of a stage at 75
- Oct 9 Viktor Alexandrovich Uspensky, Russian composer, dies at 70
- Oct 16 Hale A. VanderCook, American composer, dies at 85
- Oct 24 Joaquín Nin, Cuban composer and pianist, father of Anaïs Nin, dies at 70
- Oct 27 Ginette Neveu, French child prodigy and concert violinist, dies in a plane crash on São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal at 30
Bill Robinson (1878-1949)
Nov 25 American actor and tap dancer (Stormy Weather; The Little Colonel), dies at 71
- Dec 2 Albert Ammons, American jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie pianist, dies at 42
Lead Belly (1888-1949)
Dec 6 American blues 12-string guitarist (Rock Island Line), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 64
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers