January 1996 in Music History

Events in Music

Jan 4 "Father" opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 52 performances
Jan 7 "Fool Moon", starring Bill Irwin, closes at Ambassador Theater, NYC after 81 performances

Musical Finale

Jan 7 Musical featuring works of George and Ira Gershwin "Crazy For You" closes at Shubert Theater, NYC, after 1622 performances, winning 3 Tony Awards

Jan 14 "Holiday" closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 49 performances
Jan 14 "Swinging On a Star" closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 97 performances

Hall of Fame

Jan 17 11th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: David Bowie; Jefferson Airplane; Little Willie John; Gladys Knight and the Pips; Pink Floyd; The Shirelles; The Velvet Underground; Pete Seeger; and Tom Donahue

Singer-Songwriter and Producer David Gilmour

Jan 26 "Les Miserables" opens at Musichall Theatre, Duisburg
Jan 28 "Hello Dolly!" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 118 performances

American Music Awards

Jan 29 23rd American Music Awards: Garth Brooks wins

Jan 29 6,138th performance of "Cats" is held in London, surpassing record of Broadway's longest-running musical, "A Chorus Line"
Jan 29 La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire

Birthdays in Music

Dove Cameron (27 years old)

Jan 15 American actress and singer ("Liv and Maddie"), born in Seattle, Washington

Jan 17 Klaus Mäkelä, Finnish cellist and conductor (Oslo Philharmonic, 2020-present; Orchestre de Paris, 2021-present), born in Helsinki, Finland
Jan 31 Master KG [Kgaogelo Moagi] South African Afro-pop songwriter and producer ("Jerusalema"), born in Tzaneen, South Africa

Weddings in Music

Jan 27 "ER" TV actress Yvette Freeman (39) weds musical director Lawny Hartley (49) in Dunleith, Delaware

Divorces in Music

Divorce of Interest

Jan 18 Princess of Rock Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from King of Pop Michael Jackson in NYC

Deaths in Music

Jan 1 Hamish Imlach, Scottish folk-comic singer-songwriter ("Cod Liver Oil and the Orange Juice"), dies at 55
Jan 4 Ramon Vinay, Chilean operatic tenor, dies at 83
Jan 5 Danny White, American singer and bandleader, dies at 84
Jan 5 Richard Versaille, tenor, dies at 63
Jan 6 (Robert) "Chubby" Wise, American bluegrass fiddler, dies at 80
Jan 6 Johnny Johnston, American singer and actor (Make that Spare), dies at 80
Jan 8 (William) Mac Lance "Tiny" McCloud, musician/songwriter, dies at 52
Jan 8 Howard Taubman, American music and theater critic, dies at 88
Jan 11 Ike Isaacs, Burmese-English jazz guitarist, dies at 76
Jan 14 Pamelo Mounk'a, Congolese musician, dies at 50
Jan 15 Les Baxter, American exotica musician, orchestra leader and composer (Ritual Of The Savage, Born Again), dies at 73
Jan 16 Marcia Davenport, American author and music critic (b. 1903)
Jan 16 Richard Kermode, American rocker (Kozmic Blues Band), dies at 49
Jan 17 Mostafa Sid Ahmed, Sudanese singer (b. 1953)
Jan 17 Robert Covington, American drummer and singer, dies at 54
Jan 18 Jos Kunst, Dutch composer, dies at 60

Jan 20 Arley "Buster" Benton, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 63
Jan 20 Gerry Mulligan, American jazz baritone saxophonist, composer, and band leader (Jazz on a Summer Day), dies of complications from a knee infection at 68
Jan 20 Liesbeth Askonas, Austrian concert agent, dies at 82
Jan 20 Peter Stadlen, Austrian pianist and critic, dies at 85
Jan 25 Jonathan Larson, American composer (Rent), dies of an aortic aneurysm at 35
Jan 25 Ruth Berghaus, German choreographer and opera director, dies at 68
Jan 26 Henry Jay Lewis, American double-bassist and conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic 1948-65), dies of a heart attack at 63
Jan 26 Stevie Plunder, Australian musician (b. 1963)
Jan 30 Bob Thiele, American radio broadcaster, and record producer (John Coltrane; B.B. King), dies of kidney failure at 73