- Jan 9 Haro Levoni Step'anian, Armenian composer, dies at 68
- Jan 29 Pierre Mercure, composer, dies at 38
- Feb 6 Algot Haquinius, Swedish composer, dies at 79
- Feb 9 Sophie Tucker [Kalish] "last of the red hot mammas", Russian-born American singer/actress (My Yiddish Mama), dies at 79
- Feb 18 Casimir von Paszthory, composer, dies at 79
- Mar 4 Janis Medins, Latvian composer, dies at 75
- Mar 6 Richard Hageman, Dutch born American pianist, composer and conductor (Caponsacchi), dies at 84
- Mar 7 Mike Millward, English musician (The Fourmost), dies of leukaemia at 23
- Mar 15 Heinrich Lemacher, German composer, dies at 74
- Mar 17 Walter Lang, Swiss composer, dies at 69
- Apr 30 Richard Farina, American writer and folk rocker, dies on his birthday in a motorcycle accident
- May 4 Juan Maria Thomas Sabater, composer, dies at 69
- May 9 Alfred Mendelsohn, composer, dies at 56
- May 25 Ricardo Castillo, Guatemalan composer, dies at 71
- Jun 1 Papa Jack Laine, American musician and pioneering bandleader, dies at 92
- Jun 6 Claudette Orbison, wife of singer Roy, dies in a motorcyle crash
- Jun 12 Hermann Scherchen, German conductor (Nature of Music), dies at 74
- Jun 12 Thomas Chalmers, American opera singer, actor, and filmmaker (Blind Alleys, Outrage), dies at 81
- Jun 19 Marjan Kozina, composer, dies at 59
- Jun 29 Arthur Meulemans, Belgian composer, dies at 82
- Jul 3 André Gailhard, French classical music composer, dies at 81
- Jul 3 Joseph Deems Taylor, composer, dies at 80
- Jul 17 August Baeyens, Flemish composer (Piranesi-suite), dies at 71
- Jul 18 Bobby Fuller, American rock singer and guitarist (I Fought the Law), found dead at 23
- Jul 18 German Germanovich Galinin, composer, dies at 44
- Jul 23 Donald Novis, British singer and actor (Monte Carlo, The Singing Plumber), dies at 60
- Jul 29 Pal Jardanyi, composer, dies at 44
- Aug 1 Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell, American jazz pianist and composer, dies at 41
- Aug 9 Gösta Nystroem, Swedish composer, dies at 75
- Aug 15 Jan Kiepura, Polish vocalist and actor (Her Wonderful Lie, Give Us this Night), dies of heart attack at 64
- Aug 22 Apolinary Szeluto, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 82
- Sep 6 Luigi Perrachio, composer, dies at 83
- Sep 9 Antonio Massana, composer, dies at 76
- Sep 17 Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (Stuttgart 1955-58), dies at 35
- Sep 18 Fernand Lamy, composer, dies at 85
- Sep 18 Jeno Vecsey, Hungarian composer, dies at 57
- Sep 28 Lucky Millinder, bandleader/singer, dies
- Oct 7 Johnny Kidd, rocker (Johnny Kidd & Pirates), dies at 26 in a car crash
- Oct 7 Smiley Lewis [Overton Amos Lemons], American singer (The Bells Are Ringing, I Hear You Knocking), dies at 46
- Oct 12 Arthur Vincent Lourie, composer, dies at 74
- Oct 14 Arcady Dubensky, Russian composer, dies at 75
- Oct 17 Wieland Wagner, German opera director, dies
- Oct 26 Alma Cogan, English singer (b. 1932)
- Nov 2 Mississippi John Hurt, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 73
- Nov 3 Eric Spear, British composer for film and TV (Coronation Street theme)
- Nov 12 Quincy Porter, US composer, dies at 69
- Nov 18 Bela Tardos, Hungarian composer, dies at 56
- Nov 26 Harold Burrage, US singer/pianist (Got to Find a Way), dies at 35
- Nov 28 Vittorio Giannini, composer, dies at 63
- Dec 6 Hermann Heiss, German composer, dies at 69
- Dec 9 Yury Alexandrovich Shaporin, composer, dies at 79
- Dec 10 Boris Koutzen, composer, dies at 65
- Dec 17 Gustaf Paulson, composer, dies at 68
- Dec 24 Gaspar Cassadó, Spanish cellist and composer, dies at 69
- Dec 26 Noel Gallon, French composer, dies at 75