June 2009 in Music History

Events in Music

Jun 7 63rd Tony Awards: "Billy Elliot the Musical" (musical) and "God of Carnage" (play) win

CMT Music Awards

Jun 17 43rd CMT Music Awards: Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley win

Glastonbury Festival

Jun 24 Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and Blur headline; other performers include Fleet Foxes, Tom Jones, Spinal Tap, Lady Gaga, and The Script

Weddings in Music

Eddie Van Halen

Jun 27 Rocker Eddie Van Halen (54) weds publicist Janie Liszewski (39) at his seven-acre estate in the hills above Studio City, California

Deaths in Music

Jun 3 Koko Taylor [Cora Walton], American blues singer known as the "Queen of the Blues", dies of complications from surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding at 80
Jun 3 Sam Butera, American big band and R&B saxophonist, songwriter, and singer (Louis Prima and the Witnesses), dies of pneumonia at 81
Jun 5 Boris Pokrovsky, Russian operatic stage director, dies at 97
Jun 5 Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter, dies of a drug overdose at 31
Jun 7 Hugh Hopper, British progressive rock and jazz bassist (Soft Machine; Stomu Yamashta's East Wind; Carla Bley), dies of leukemia at 64
Jun 7 Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter ("Peaceful"), dies of lung cancer at 69
Jun 10 Barry Beckett, American keyboardist and record producer (David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins), dies from complications of a stroke at 66
Jun 14 Ivan Della Mea, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
Jun 19 Ali Akbar Khan, Indian classical sarod player, composer, and music educator, dies of kidney failure at 87
Jun 22 Steve Race, British composer, jazz pianist and radio and television presenter (BBC's "My Music", 1967-94), dies at 88

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Jun 25 American recording artist, dancer and King of Pop ("Thriller"; "Billie Jean"; "Bad"), dies of cardiac arrest at 50

Jun 25 Sky Saxon [Richard Marsh], American rocker (The Seeds - "Pushin' To Hard"), dies from heart and renal failure at 71
Jun 26 Erhard Karkoschka, German composer, conductor (Contac-Ensemble), educator, and music scholar, dies at 86
Jun 27 Fayette Pinkney, American pop and disco singer (The Three Degrees, 1963-76 - "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)"; "When Will I See You Again?"), and psychologist, dies of acute respiratory failure at 61
Jun 27 Gale Storm [Josephine Owaissa Cottle], American singer ("I Hear You Knockin'"), and actress (My Little Margie; The Gale Storm Show), dies at 87
Jun 28 Tom Wilkes, American photographer, art director, poster and album cover designer (George Harrison; Rolling Stones; Carpenters, Sir Doug; Janis Joplin; Sandpipers), dies at 69
Jun 30 Pina Bausch, German choreographer and dancer, dies at 68