Events in Music
Music Premiere
Dec 3 Dmitri Shostakovich's 6th Symphony premieres
Music Premiere
Dec 6 Cole Porter's musical "Du Barry Was A Lady" opens at 46th Street Theatre, NYC; runs 408 performances
Birthdays in Music
- Dec 1 Dianne Lennon, American singer (Lennon Sisters), born in Los Angeles, California
- Dec 5 Frédéric van Rossum, Belgian pianist, composer (Waves; In memoriam Glenn Gould), and pedagogue, born in Ixelles, Belgium
- Dec 6 Steve Alaimo, American pop singer ("Mashed Potatoes"; "Every Day I Have To Cry"), born in Omaha, Nebraska
- Dec 6 Tomés Svoboda, Czech composer (Etude), born in Paris, France
- Dec 8 James Galway, Irish classical flutist known as "The Man With the Golden Flute", born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Dec 8 Jerry Butler, American soul vocalist (The Impressions; "Never Give You Up"), born in Sunflower, Mississippi
- Dec 11 David Gates, American rock vocalist (Bread - "Baby I'm A Want You"; "If"), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Dec 15 Cindy Birdsong, American rock vocalist (Patti LaBelle & Blue Belles, 1963-67; The Supremes, 1967-76), born in Camden, New Jersey
- Dec 15 Dave Clark, British rock drummer, singer-songwriter, and producer (Dave Clark Five - "Glad All Over"), born in Tottenham, Middlesex, England [1]
- Dec 15 Nicolaus A. Huber, German composer, born in Passau, Germany
- Dec 17 Eddie Kendricks, American singer-songwriter (The Temptations - "The Way You Do the Things You Do"; "Just My Imagination"), born in Union Springs, Alabama (d. 1992)
- Dec 17 James Booker, American R&B musician (Gonzo), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Dec 18 Henrica M. L. "Wiesje" Backer, Dutch dancer, actress and playwright
- Dec 20 Bill Keith, American bluegrass, country, and session banjoist, and tuning instrument tuner inventor, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2015)
- Dec 20 Kim Weston, American soul singer (with Marvin Gaye - "It Takes Two"), born in Detroit, Michigan
- Dec 20 Klaus Schweizer, German composer, born in Albstadt, Germany
- Dec 22 James Gurley, American rock lead guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company - "Piece Of My Heart"), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2009)
- Dec 23 Johnny Kidd [Frederick Heath], British rock singer-songwriter (Johnny Kidd & Pirates - "Shakin' All Over"), born in London, England (d. 1966)
- Dec 25 Bob James, American smooth jazz keyboardist and composer ("Angela"; "Tappen Zee"), born in Marshall, Missouri
Phil Spector (1939-2021)
Dec 26 American record producer (Wall of Sound), and convicted murderer, born in The Bronx, New York
- Dec 28 Charles Neville, American vocalist and saxophonist (Neville Brothers), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2018)
- Dec 29 (William Edwin) "Ed" Bruce, American country singer ("Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys"), born in Keiser, Arkansas (d. 2021)
- Dec 30 Felix Pappalardi, American rock music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist (Mountain - "Mississippi Queen"), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1983)
- Dec 30 Viola Mae Wilkerson, American pop singer ("Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now"), born in Watts, Los Angeles, California (d. 2009)
Deaths in Music
- Dec 1 Max Fiedler, German composer, dies at 79
- Dec 8 Ernest Schelling, American child piano prodigy, conductor, and composer (A Victory Ball), dies of a cerebral embolism at 63
- Dec 10 Wilhelm Grosz, Austrian pianist, conductor, classical composer (Afrika Songs), and popular songwriter ("Red Sails in the Sunset"; "Isle of Capri"), dies at 45 [1]
- Dec 19 Eric Fogg, English composer, dies under a train at 36
- Dec 22 Ma Rainey [Gertrude Pridgett], American singer "Mother of the Blues", dies at 53
