- May 2 Bunk Gardner [John Guarnera], American musician (Mothers Of Invention), born in Cleveland, Ohio
James Brown
May 3 James Brown, American soul singer (Hot Pants, Living in America) and originator of funk music, born in Barnwell, South Carolina (d. 2006)
James Brown
- May 7 Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer ‘the Nightingale of Kosovo’ and actress, born near Malishevë, Kosovo (d. 2020)
- May 13 Alden Ashforth, composer
- May 13 Stig Gustav Schonberg, composer
- May 14 Frank Harte, Irish singer and song collector
- May 21 Maurice André, French classical trumpeter and baroque revivalist, born in Alès, France (d. 2012)
- May 22 Don Estelle [Ronald Edwards], British actor and singer (It Ain't Half Hot Mum), born in Crumpsall, Lancashire (d. 2003)
- May 23 John Browning, American pianist (Leventritt Award-1956), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2003)
- May 23 Gary Burden, American artist and one of the pioneers for the concept of album cover art (designed covers for Neil Young, Nash, The Doors), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2018)
- May 29 Helmuth Rilling, German conductor (founder of the Gächinger Kantorei), born in Stuttgart, Germany
About May 1933
How Old? 87 years old
Generation: Silent Generation
Leap Year: No