Events in Music
Album Release
May 2 "Killin' Time" debut album by Clint Black is released (Billboard Album of the Year, 1990)
- May 6 34th Eurovision Song Contest: Riva for Yugoslavia wins singing "Rock Me" in Lausanne
Sports History
May 8 Paul McCartney releases remake of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 96 Liverpool football fans
Music Recording
May 24 Weird Al Yankovic records three tracks for his UHF soundtrack
- May 25 Weird Al Yankovic records parody song "She Drives Like Crazy"
Birthdays in Music
- May 9 C418 [Daniel Rosenfeld], German ambient musician, and video game and soundtrack composer (Minecraft; Beyond Stranger Things), born in Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany (now Chemnitz, Germany)
- May 12 Megan Lovell, American singer and guitarist (Larkin Poe), born in Atlanta, Georgia
- May 22 Christian Sands, American jazz pianist and composer, born in New Haven, Connecticut
- May 24 G-Eazy [Gerald Earl Gillum], American rapper ("Me, Myself & I"; "No Limit"), born in Oakland, California
- May 29 Sanah Kadoura, Lebanese-Canadian jazz drummer and percussionist, born in Calgary, Alberta
- May 30 Kevin Covais, American singer (American Idol) and actor, born in Levittown, New York
Deaths in Music
- May 1 Antonio Janigro, Italian cellist (Zagreb Soloists), dies at 71
- May 9 Keith Whitley, American country music singer ("Don't Close Your Eyes"), dies of alcohol poisoning at 33
- May 10 Woody Shaw, American jazz trumpeter (Rosewood), dies from complications after being stuck by a subway train at 44
- May 11 Jitka Snížková, Czech composer, music educator and musicologist, dies at 64
- May 12 Marcelle de Manziarly, French pianist and composer, dies at 89
- May 15 Johnny Green, American singer (Body and Soul) and film score composer who won 5 Academy Awards, dies at 80
- May 22 Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist, dies from multiple organ failure due to AIDS at 36
- May 23 Lindembergue Cardoso, Brazilian composer, and music educator (Brazilian Contemporary Music Ensemble), dies at 49
- May 29 John Cipollina, American rock guitarist (Quicksilver Messenger Service), dies from a longterm lung disease at 45
- May 30 Zinka Milanov, Croatian soprano (Ljublama Opera 1927, NY Metropolitan Opera), dies of a stroke at 83
Country Singers
Jazz Musicians
Opera Singers
Pop Stars
Rappers
Rockers