- May 4 Geraldo [Gerald Walcan Bright], British "sweet music" dance band lbandeader (Gaucho Tango Orchestra), dies of a heart attack at 69
- May 4 Israel Citkowitz, Polish-American composer (The Lambs), and pedagogue, dies at 65
- May 8 Graham Bond, British R&B musician, dies jumping under a train at 36
- May 9 Lyubomir Pipkov, Bulgarian pianist, composer, music educator, and (with his father) Antarctic glacier namesake, dies at 69
- May 23 Kathleen Cannell, American fashion and dance writer, dies at 82
- May 24 Edward "Duke" Ellington, American bandleader, composer and pianist ("Take the A Train"; "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"), dies of cancer at 75
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