Birthdays in Music
- Jan 1 Harold Martina, Netherland Antilles, pianist/conductor
- Jan 6 Nino Tempo [Antonino LoTempio], American session saxophonist and pop vocalist ("Deep Purple"; "Sister James"), born in Niagara Falls, New York
- Jan 6 Paul Wilson, American doo-wop baritone singer (Flamingos, 1953-64 - "I Only Have Eyes For You"; "Lovers Never Say Goodbye"), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1988)
- Jan 7 Kenny Davern, American jazz clarinetist, born in Huntington, New York (d. 2006)
- Jan 7 Noam Sheriff, Israeli composer, conductor, and music director, born in Ramat Gan, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) (d. 2018)
- Jan 7 Tommy Johnson, American orchestral tubist (Jaws theme), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2006)
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
Jan 8 American King of Rock and Roll ("Hound Dog"; "Love Me Tender"; "Heartbreak Hotel"; "Suspicious Minds"), and actor (Jailhouse Rock; King Creole), born in Tupelo, Mississippi
- Jan 8 Ian Bargh, Scottish-born Canadian jazz pianist and composer, born in Prestwick, Scotland (d. 2012)
- Jan 9 Buddy Scott, American blues guitarist, born in Goodman, Mississippi (d. 1994)
- Jan 10 Eddy Clearwater [Edward Harrington], American blues musician (West Side Strut), born in Macon, Mississippi (d. 2018)
- Jan 10 Georg Katzer, German composer (electro-acoustic music), born in Habelschwerdt, Silesia (d. 2019)
- Jan 10 Ronnie Hawkins, American-Canadian rock musician, born in Huntsville, Arkansas (d. 2022)
- Jan 10 Sherrill Milnes, American operatic baritone, born in Downers Grove, Illinois
- Jan 11 Chuck Barksdale, American baritone doo-wop singer (The Dells - "I Can Sing a Rainbow"), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2019)
- Jan 12 William Lee Gloden, American country music singer (Oak Ridge Boys), born in Brewton, Alabama
- Jan 15 Malcolm Frager, American concert pianist, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1991)
- Jan 19 [Augustus] Owsley Stanley III, American audio engineer and LSD cook who worked with the Grateful Dead, born in Kentucky (d. 2011)
- Jan 20 Sándor Balassa, Hungarian composer (Requiem for Lajos Kassák; The Third Planet), and educator (Liszt Ferenc Academy, 1981-95), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 2021)
- Jan 26 Peter Ronnefeld, German composer and conductor (Die Nachtausgabe), born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1965)
- Jan 26 Zbigniew Penherski, Polish composer (Little Music for the End of Century), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 2019)
- Jan 28 Leonid Hrabovsky, Ukrainian-American contemporary classical composer (Meditation and Pathetic Recitative; Symphonic Frescoes), born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)e
- Jan 31 Bojidar Dimov, Bulgarian pianist and composer (Die Hochzeit von Susa), born in Lom, Bulgaria (d. 2003)
Deaths in Music
- Jan 14 Heinrich Schenker, Austrian musicologist (Urlinie) know for his Schenkerian analysis of music, dies at 66
- Jan 16 Richard Wetz, German composer (Requiem, Op. 50 in B minor), dies of lung cancer at 59
- Jan 28 Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and musician (Armenian Rhapsody), dies at 75
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers