April 2016 in Music History

Events in Music

Apr 5 "One Dance" single Released by Drake (Billboard Song of the Year 2016)

Apr 8 31st Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Chicago, Cheap Trick, Deep Purple, Steve Miller, and N.W.A

Apr 23 Beyoncé releases her 6th album "Lemonade" with a 1 hour film on HBO

Apr 28 George Wolfe's musical "Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed", based on Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's original revue, and featuring Audra MacDonald and Billy Porter, opens at the Music Box Theatre, NYC; runs for 100 performances
Apr 29 "H.O.L.Y" single released by Florida Georgia Line (Billboard Song of the Year, 2016)
Apr 29 Canadian musician Drake releases "Views", his 4th studio album

Apr 2 Gato Barbieri, Argentinian Latin jazz musician (Last Tango in Paris), dies at 83
Apr 2 Mike Gibbons, American rocker (Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods - "Billy Don't Be A Hero"), dies at 71
Apr 3 Donald "Don" Francks, Canadian actor, singer and musician (Terminal Choice; Finian's Rainbow), dies at 84
Apr 4 Carlo Mastrangelo, Italian-American rocker (Dion & The Belmonts), dies of cancer at 78
Apr 5 Leon Haywood, American funk and soul singer, and keyboardist ("It's Got To Be Mellow"; "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You"), dies at 74
Apr 6 Dennis Davis, American jazz, rock and funk drummer (Roy Ayers; David Bowie, 1975-80; Stevie Wonder), dies of cancer at 66

Apr 6 American country singer-songwriter ("Mama Tried"; "If We Make It Through December"; "Okie from Muskogee"), dies on his 79th birthday

Apr 11 Emile Ford, Caribbean-born British singer and engineer (first black male singer to top UK charts), dies at 78
Apr 12 Alan Loveday, New Zealand and British violinist, dies at 88
Apr 13 Jeremy Steig, American jazz flutist ("Howlin' for Judy"; "Wayfaring Stranger"), dies of cancer at 73
Apr 16 Peter Tolson, English rock guitarist (Pretty Things), dies at 64
Apr 18 Brian Asawa, Japanese-American countertenor, dies of liver failure at 49
Apr 18 [Julia Liane] Aleah Stanbridge, South African metal musician (Trees of Eternity), dies of cancer at 39
Apr 21 Lonnie Mack, American rocker ("Baby What's Wrong"), dies at 74

Apr 21 American funk, rock, R&B singer-songwriter and musician ("1999"; "Purple Rain"), dies from an accidental overdose of painkillers at 57

Apr 24 Billy Paul [Paul Williams], American soul singer ("Me & Mrs Jones"), dies of pancreatic cancer at 81
Apr 24 Jan Henrik Kayser, Norwegian concert pianist (Grieg Prize, 1978), dies at 83
Apr 24 Papa Wemba [Wembadio Kikumba], Congolese singer, known as the "King of Rumba Rock", dies after collapsing on stage at 66
Apr 25 Mei Baojiu, Chinese opera performer and director (Mei Lanfang Peking Opera), dies at 82
Apr 29 Dmytro Hnatyuk, Ukrainian baritone (1951-88), opera director State Opera, 1975-88), and parliamentarian, dies at 91
Apr 30 Phil Ryan, Welsh keyboardist and composer (Man; Pete Brown), dies at 69