- Jan 2 Dick Powell [Richard Ewing Powell], American singer, actor, producer and director (Cry Danger, Dick Powell Theater), dies from cancer at 58
- Jan 10 Tadeusz Szeligowski, Polish composer (The Peacock and the Girl), dies at 66
- Jan 16 Gilardo Gilardi, Argentine composer, pianist and conductor (La leyenda del urutaú, Réquiem, Misa de Gloria), dies at 73
- Jan 16 Ike Quebec, American tenor-saxophone player, dies of cancer at 44
- Jan 30 Francis Poulenc, French composer (b. 1899)
- Feb 6 Werner Erich Josten, German composer (Jungle), dies at 77
- Feb 16 Laszlo Lajtha, composer, dies at 70
- Feb 20 Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (b. 1914)
- Feb 20 Jacob Gade, Danish composer(b. 1879)
- Mar 5 Hawkshaw Hawkins, country singer (Ozark Jubilee), dies at 41
Patsy Cline
Mar 5 Patsy Cline, country singer (Crazy), dies in a plane crash at 30
Patsy Cline
- Mar 5 Cowboy Copas, American singer (b. 1913)
- Mar 17 William Henry Squire, composer, dies at 91
- Mar 28 Alec Templeton, Welsh pianist and composer (Concertino Lirico), dies at 52
- Mar 30 Alexander Vasil'yevich Gauk, composer, dies at 69
- Apr 5 Julius Harrison, composer, dies at 78
- May 2 Tomas Vackar, composer, dies at 17
- May 5 Heinrich Gebhard, German-born American composer, dies at 84
- May 12 Stanislaw Wiechowicz, composer, dies at 69
- May 24 Elmore James, blues guitarist, dies at 45 of a heart attack
- May 28 Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin, Soviet composer, dies at 60
- Jun 22 Maria Tănase, Romanian singer of traditional and popular music (b. 1913)
- Jul 4 Fritz Reutter, German composer, dies at 66
- Jul 5 Daniel Ruyneman, composer, dies at 76
- Jul 29 Dorian Le Gallienne, composer, dies at 48
- Aug 5 Salvador Bacarisse, Spanish composer, dies at 64
- Aug 8 Sandor Jemnitz, composer, dies at 72
- Aug 15 John Powell, American composer, dies at 80
- Aug 19 Kathleen Parlow, Canadian violinist (b. 1890)
- Aug 23 Glen Gray, American jazz musician and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra (b. 1900)
- Aug 30 Axel Stordahl, orchestra leader (Frank Sinatra Show), dies at 50
- Sep 3 Frico Kafenda, Slovak composer, dies at 79
- Sep 30 Arnold Foster, composer, dies at 66
- Oct 9 Thurlow Weed Lieurance, composer, dies at 85
Edith Piaf
Oct 11 Édith Piaf, French singer (No, I don't regret anything), dies of liver cancer at 47
Edith Piaf
- Oct 18 Claudio Carneyro, composer, dies at 68
- Oct 25 Abu-Bakr Khairat, Egyptian composer, dies at 53
- Oct 28 Mart Saar, Estonian composer, dies at 81
- Nov 8 Simon Jurovsky, composer, dies at 51
- Nov 15 Fritz Reiner, Hung/US conductor (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), dies at 74
- Nov 19 Carmen Amaya, Spanish flamenco dancer, dies at about 50
- Nov 26 Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano, dies
- Dec 5 Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer, dies at 58
- Dec 13 Stan Jones, American songwriter, composer and actor (Rio Grande, The Sheriff of Cochise), dies of cancer at 49
- Dec 14 Dinah Washington, American singer (What a Difference a Day Makes), dies of sleeping pill overdose at 39
- Dec 18 Winifried P I Zillig, German composer/conductor (Opfer), dies at 58
- Dec 20 Paul Constantinescu, composer, dies at 54
- Dec 28 Paul Hindemith, German composer (Composer's World), dies at 68