- Jan 9 Johann Strauss, Austrian conductor and Royal ball director, dies at 72
- Jan 10 Julius Bittner, Austrian composer (Missa Austriaca), dies at 64
- Feb 11 Franz Schmidt, Austrian composer, dies at 64
- Feb 17 Willy Hess, German violinist, dies at 79
- Feb 18 Ludwig Bonvin, composer, dies at 89
- Mar 7 Amadeo Roldán, Cuban composer and violinist, dies at 38
- Mar 21 Evald Aav, Estonian composer, dies at 39
- Apr 9 Emilio Serrano y Ruiz, Spanish composer, dies at 89
- Apr 21 Herman Finck, composer, dies at 66
- Apr 24 John Foulds, English composer, dies at 58
- Jun 4 Tommy Ladnier, American musician (b. 1900)
- Jun 16 Chick Webb, American jazz drummer and big band leader (b. 1905)
- Jun 18 Frans "Sas" van Aerschot, Flemish operetta actor (Paljas), dies at 73
- Jul 18 Witold Maliszewski, Polish composer, dies at 65
- Aug 3 Eugust Enna, composer, dies at 80
- Aug 28 Edward Patten, American soul singer (Gladys Knight & the Pips), dies at 65
- Sep 28 Felicjan Szopski, composer, dies at 74
- Oct 10 Eleanor Rigby, a real person whose name may have suggested the title to The Beatles song (b. 1895)
- Oct 16 Carl Henrik Ludolf Nielsen, composer, dies at 63
- Nov 4 Charles Arnold Tournemire, composer, dies at 69
- Nov 20 Marie Joseph Leon Desire Paque, composer, dies at 72
- Dec 1 Max Fiedler, German composer, dies at 79
- Dec 8 Ernest Schelling, American composer and conductor (Victory Ball), dies at 63
- Dec 10 Wilhelm Grosz, composer, dies at 45
- Dec 19 Eric Fogg, English composer, dies under a train at 36
- Dec 22 Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer/composer, dies at 53