- 1576 Baliny Valentin Bakfark, composer, dies
- 1600 Johann Baptista Serranus, composer, dies at 60
- 1728 Marin Marais, French composer, dies at 72
- 1798 Felice Alessandri, composer, dies at 50
- 1848 Timothy Olmstead, early American composer, dies at 88
- 1853 Giovanni Battista Polledro, composer, dies at 72
- 1907 Joseph Joachim, German violinist (Hungarian Concerto), dies at 76
- 1914 Anatol K Liadov, Russian composer (Baba yaga), dies at 59 [NS=Aug 28]
- 1918 Heinrich Köselitz [Peter Gast], German composer, dies at 64
- 1935 Gerard Brucken Fock, Dutch composer and painter, dies at 75
- 1936 Stanislaw Niewiadomski, composer, dies at 76
- 1936 Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (The Mikado), dies at 71
- 1951 Artur Schnabel, Austrian pianist (Reflections on Music), dies at 69
- 1959 Blind Willie McTell, American ragtime singer and guitarist (b. 1901)
- 1963 John Powell, American composer, dies at 80
- 1966 Jan Kiepura, Polish vocalist and actor (Her Wonderful Lie, Give Us this Night), dies of heart attack at 64
- 1968 Edward Kilenyi, Sr. [Ede Kilényi], composer and teacher (Clipped Wings, Outside the Law), dies at 84
- 1970 Karl August Andersen, composer, dies at 66
- 1972 Alf Hurum, Norwegian composer, dies at 89
- 1978 Harrison Kerr, American composer, dies at 80
- 1985 Richard Yardumian, American composer (Creator Spirit), dies at 68
- 1990 Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (b. 1962)
- 1992 Jackie Edwards, Jamaican songwriter (Keep On Running), dies at 53 or 54
- 1995 Erbie Bowser, American blues and jazz pianist, dies at 77
- 2003 Gösta Sundqvist, Finnish songwriter and singer (heart attack) (b. 1957)
- 2004 Semiha Berksoy, first Turkish opera singer (b. 1910)
- 2007 Richard Bradshaw, British opera conductor, (b. 1944)
- 2008 Jerry Wexler, American music producer who coined the term "rhythm and blues" (Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan), dies from congestive heart failure at 91
- 2012 Bob Birch, American musician (Elton John), commits suicide at 56
- 2014 Licia Albanese, Italian-born American operatic soprano, dies at 105
- 2015 Gordon "Jazz" Summers, British music manager (Wham, Snow Patrol), dies at 71
- 2018 Jim Dickinson, American record producer (Mud Boy), dies at 67
August in History
Ship Of Gold Sails Into Oblivion
A frigate with more than 150 souls on board, as well as nearly three tons of gold, sailed out of Melbourne on this day – never to be seen again.
August 12, 1853
America's Last Public Hanging
The last man to be publicly hanged in the United States met his fate on this day in history. It was a squalid affair watched by about 10,000 people.
August 14, 1936
First Faltering Steps of Jane Eyre
With hope, pride – and some subterfuge – Charlotte Brontë sent her hefty manuscript of Jane Eyre to publishers in London on this day, then crossed her fingers.
August 15, 1847
A Kiss For Adolf Hitler
A woman spectator leaned over and kissed Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympic Games on this day. Hitler pretended to be amused, but his guards were to suffer.
August 15, 1936