- Jan 3 Larry McNeeley, American bluegrass and session banjo player (The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour), born in Lafayette, Indiana
- Jan 3 Manfred Kokot, East German athlete (world record 50m indoor sprint 5.61s 1973), born in Templin, Germany
- Jan 4 Eugeniusz Wycisło, Polish politician
- Jan 5 Parthasarathy Sharma, Indian cricket batsman (5 Tests, 1 x 50), born in Alwar, India (d. 2010)
- Jan 5 Rob Quist, American country and bluegrass singer-songwriter, guitarist and banjo player (Mission Mountain Wood Band), born in Cut Bank, Montana
- Jan 5 Thom Mooney, American rocker (Nazz), born in Altoona, Pennsylvania
- Jan 6 Bob Wise, American politician (Governor of West Virginia 2001-05, Rep-D-WV, 1983-2001), born in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 6 Dayle Hadlee, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (brother of Richard; 26 Tests, 71 wickets, 1 x 50; Canterbury), born in Christchurch, Canterbury
- Jan 6 Guy Gardner, US Air Force officer & astronaut (STS 27, STS 35), born in Altavista, Virginia
- Jan 7 Kaz Lux, Dutch blues-rock guitarist and singer, born in Oosterhout, Netherlands
- Jan 7 Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter (Loggins and Messina - "Danny's Song"; "Your Mama Don't Dance"; solo - "This Is It"; "Footloose"), born in Everett, Washington
- Jan 7 Rick Marotta, American session drummer (Carly Simon; Steely Dan; Warren Zevon), and composer, born in New York City
- Jan 8 Gillies Mackinnon, Scottish film director & writer (Playboys), born in Glasgow, United Kingdom
- Jan 9 Bill Cowsill, American singer and musician (The Cowsills - "Hair"; "The Rain, The Park, And Other Things"), born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 2006)
- Jan 9 Cassie Gaines, American rock singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd), born in Miami, Oklahoma (d. 1977)
- Jan 9 Paul King, British rock guitarist and banjo player (Mungo Jerry, 1970-72), born in Dagenham, Essex, England
- Jan 9 Tim Hart, British folk-rock singer, guitaist, mandolin and dulcimer player (Steeleye Span, 1969-82 - "All Around My Hat"; "Gaudete"), born in Lincoln, England (d. 2009)
- Jan 10 Bernard Thévenet, French cyclist, born in Saint-Julien-de-Civry, France
Donald Fagen (75 years old)
Jan 10 American rock vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter (Steely Dan - "Reelin' In The Years"; "Deacon Blue"), born in Passaic, New Jersey
- Jan 10 Fayette Pinkney, American pop and disco singer (The Three Degrees, 1963-76 - "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)"; "When Will I See You Again?"), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2009)
- Jan 10 Mischa Maisky, Latvian cellist, born in Riga, Latvia
- Jan 11 Eleazar Soria, Peruvian soccer defender (29 caps, Copa America 1975; Universitario, Independiente, Sporting Cristal), born in Lima, Peru (d. 2021)
- Jan 11 Madeline Manning-Mimms, American athlete (Olympic gold 800m 1968), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- Jan 11 Terry Goodkind, American epic fantasy novelist (The Sword of Truth), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 2020)
- Jan 11 Terry Williams, Welsh rock drummer (Man; Rockpile; Dire Straits, 1982-88), born in Swansea, Wales
- Jan 12 Anthony Andrews, English actor (Under the Volcano), born in London, England
- Jan 12 John Etheridge, British guitarist (Soft Machine), born in Lambeth, England
- Jan 12 Kenny Allen, English footballer, born in Fenton, Michigan
- Jan 12 Khalid Abdul Muhammed, American Nation of Islam spokesman, born in Houston, Texas (d. 2001)
- Jan 12 William Nicholson, English writer, born in Lewes, United Kingdom
- Jan 13 Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
- Jan 13 Kenia Jayantilal, cricketer (5 at Kingston 71 his only inns for India)
- Jan 14 Carl Weathers, American actor (Apollo Creed-Rocky), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Jan 14 Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett, American musician and producer (Los Lobos; Sam Philips: BoDeans), born in St. Louis, Missouri
- Jan 15 Dini Petty, Canadian talk show host (CITY-TV), born in Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
- Jan 15 Ronnie Van Zant, American rock musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Gimme Three Steps"), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 1977)
- Jan 15 Tommy Nolan, Canadian actor (Jody-Buckskin), born in Montreal, Quebec
- Jan 16 Anatoli Yakovlevich Solovyov, Soviet cosmonaut (TM-5,9,15,26, STS 71), born in Riga, Latvia
- Jan 16 Cliff Thorburn, Canadian champion snooker player, born in Victoria, British Columbia
- Jan 16 Dalvanius Prime, New Zealand entertainer, born in Patea, New Zealand (d. 2002)
John Carpenter (75 years old)
Jan 16 American film director (Halloween, The Thing), born in Carthage, New York
- Jan 16 Ruth Reichl, American magazine editor, born in Greenwich Village, New York
- Jan 17 Alexander "Alec" Erwin, South African worker's union leader, born in Cape Town, South Africa
- Jan 17 Anne Queffélec, French concert pianist, born in Paris, France
- Jan 17 Mick Taylor, British rock guitarist (John Mayhall's Bluesbreakers, 1967-69; Rolling Stones, 1969-74 - "Brown Sugar", "Honky Tonk Woman"), born in Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
- Jan 19 Harvey Hinsley, British musician, born in Northampton, United Kingdom
- Jan 20 Jerry Ross, American Air Force officer & NASA astronaut (STS 61B, 27, 37, 55, 74, sk:88), born in Crown Point, Indiana
- Jan 20 Mel Pritchard, British progressive rock drummer (Barclay James Harvest), born in Oldham, Lancashire (d. 2004)
- Jan 20 Nancy Kress, American science fiction writer, born in Buffalo, New york
- Jan 20 Natan Sharansky, Israeli politician & human rights activist, born in Donetsk, Ukraine
- Jan 22 Gilbert Levine, American orchestral conductor, born in Brooklyn, New York
- Jan 22 Northern Calloway, American actor (d. 1990)
- Jan 23 Anita Pointer, American pop and R&B singer (The Pointer Sisters - "He's So Shy"; "I'm So Excited"), born in Oakland, California (d. 2022)
- Jan 23 Glenn Wheatley, Australian rock bassist (The Masters Apprentices), and talent manager (Little River Band; John Farnham), born in Nambour, Queensland, Australia (d. 2022)
- Jan 24 Charlie Souza, American session and touring bass player and vocalist (Mudcrutch), born in Tampa, Florida
- Jan 24 Elliott Abrams, American ass. secretary of state/supplied arms to the Contras, born in New York
- Jan 24 Michael Des Barres, British rock singer (Detective; Power Station), actor (MacGyver; The New WKRP in Cincinnati), and radio DJ, born in Hove, England
- Jan 24 Michio Kaku, American physicist, futurist, author (Physics of the Impossible; The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything), broadcaster, and peace activist, born in San Jose, California
- Jan 25 Gueorgui Chichkine, Russian painter, born in Yekaterinburg, Russia
- Jan 25 Ros Kelly, Australian politician, born in Sydney, Australia
- Jan 26 (Laurence) "Corky" Laing, Canadian rock drummer and songwriter (Mountain, Cork), born in Montreal, Quebec
- Jan 27 Chuck Larsen, American country-rockabilly singer and banjo player (Snuff - "Bad, Bad, Billy")
- Jan 27 Kim Gardner, English rock bassist (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke), born in London (d. 2001)
- Jan 27 Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American ballet dancer,and choreographer (American Ballet Theater), and actor (The Turning Point; Sex In The City), born in Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union (now Latvia)
- Jan 28 Bennie Thompson, American politician (Rep (D) Mississippi 1993-, Chair Jan 6 Committee), born in Bolton, Mississippi
- Jan 28 Charles Taylor, President of Liberia (1997-2003), warlord and convicted war criminal, born in Arthington, Liberia
- Jan 28 Mamoru Mohri, Japanese scientist and astronaut (STS 47, born in Yoichi-machi Hokkaido
- Jan 29 Felice Taylor, American R&B singer (I Feel Love Comin' On), born in Richmond, California (d. 2017)
- Jan 29 Marc Singer, Canadian-American actor (V, Dallas), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
- Jan 29 Pat Kenny, Irish TV presenter & radio host
- Jan 30 Akira Yoshino, Japanese chemist (lithium-ion battery), 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, born in Suita, Japan
- Jan 30 Nicholas Broomfield, English documentary film director (Dark Obsession, Heidi Fleiss), born in London, United Kingdom
- Jan 30 Paul Magee, Provisional IRA member, born in Belfast, Ireland
- Jan 31 Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician, born in Hokkaido, Japan
About January 1948
How Old? 75 years old
Generation: Baby Boomer
Leap Year: Yes