On This Day

December 2011 in Music History

Weddings in Music

Sinead O'Connor

Dec 9 "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer Sinead O'Connor (45) weds Irish therapist Barry Herridge (38) at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas

Sinead O'Connor
  • Dec 17 Backstreet Boys member A. J. McLean (34) weds model Rochelle Karidis (30) in an outdoor wedding at Beverly Hills, California
  • Dec 31 "American Idol" alum and rocker James Durbin (22) weds Heidi Lowe at the edge of a redwood and oak forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California

Divorces in Music

Zooey Deschanel

Dec 27 "New Girl" actress Zooey Deschanel (31) divorces "Death Cab for Cutie" singer Ben Gibbard (35) due to irreconcilable differences

Zooey Deschanel

Deaths in Music

  • Dec 3 Philip Burrell, influential Jamaican record producer, dies of a heart attack at 57
  • Dec 4 Hubert Sumlin, American blues guitarist (Howlin' Wolf), dies at 80
  • Dec 6 Dobie Gray [Lawrence Brown], American musician and singer (Drift Away), dies of cancer at 71
  • Dec 8 Dick Sims, American Hammond B-3 organist (Bob Seger; Eric Clapton), dies of cancer at 60
  • Dec 8 Minoru Miky, Japanese composer for traditional Japanese instruments, dies at 84
  • Dec 9 Myra Taylor (née Render), American jazz singer ("Spider and the Fly"; Wild Women of Kansas City), songwriter, and actress, dies at 94
  • Dec 12 John Gardner, English classical composer, dies at 94
  • Dec 15 Bob Brookmeyer, American jazz and studio pianist, valve trombone player, arranger, and composer (Stan Getz; Jerry Mulligan), dies of congestive heart failure at 81
  • Dec 17 Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean morna singer known as "the Barefoot Diva", dies from respiratory failure at 70
  • Dec 18 Ralph MacDonald, American rock percussionist and songwriter ("Just the Two of Us"), dies of cancer at 67
  • Dec 20 (Thomas) "Sean" Bonniwell, American rock guitarist and singer-songwriter (The Music Machine - "Talk, Talk"), dies of lung cancer at 71
  • Dec 25 Israel Baker, American concert and session violinist (NBC Symphony; Paramount Studios Orchestra), dies at 92
  • Dec 25 Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood [Euclid James Sherwood], American rock musician (Mothers Of Invention), dies at 69
  • Dec 26 Sam Rivers, American jazz musician (exponent of free jazz), dies of pneumonia at 88
  • Dec 29 Bobby Purify [Robert Lee Dickey], American soul singer (I'm Your Puppet), dies at 72
  • Dec 31 Omus Hirshbein, classical music impresario and music director, dies at 77

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