- 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, Italian composer, dies at 72
- 1907 Joseph Joachim, German violinist (Hungarian Concerto), dies at 76
- 1914 Anatoly Liadov, Russian composer (Baba yaga), dies at 59
- 1918 Heinrich Köselitz [Peter Gast], German composer, dies at 64
- 1935 Gerard Brucken Fock, Dutch composer and painter, dies at 75
- 1936 Stanisław Niewiadomski, Polish 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, dies at 61
- 1961 Granville "Sticks" McGhee, American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter("Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee"), dies of lung cancer
- 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
- 1986 Richard E. Holz, American composer for brass band (Salvation Army), dies at 74
- 1990 Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (Kino), dies in a car accident at 28
- 1990 Lew DeWitt, American country singer and composer (Statler Brothers - "Flowers on the Wall"), dies of Crohn's disease complications at 52
- 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 Dave Hassinger, American recording engineer and record producer, dies at 80
- 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
- 2009 Jim Dickinson, American record producer (Mud Boy), dies at 67
- 2012 Bob Birch, American musician (Elton John), commits suicide at 56
- 2014 Licia Albanese, Italian-American operatic soprano (NY Metropolitan Opera, 1940-66), dies at 105
- 2015 Gordon "Jazz" Summers, British music manager (Wham, Snow Patrol), dies at 71
- 2016 Bobby Hutcherson, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player ("Little B's Poem"; SFJAZZ Collective), dies of emphysema at 75