- Jan 2 Larry Williams, rocker, dies at 44
- Jan 3 Amos Milburn, American R&B singer and pianist, dies at 52
- Jan 6 Georgeanna Tillman, US singer (the Marvelettes), dies at 35 from lupus and sickle cell anemia
- Jan 7 Larry Williams, American rocker (Dizzy, Miss Lizzie), dies of a gunshot wound to the head at 44
- Jan 7 Carl White, rocker, dies
- Jan 13 Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-American conductor (Lincoln Portrarit), dies of pneumonia at 78
- Jan 19 Richard Franko Goldman, composer, dies at 69
- Jan 25 Queenie Watts [Mary Spenton], British singer and actress (Up the Junction, Holiday on the Buses), dies at 56
- Jan 29 Antonio Molina, Filipino composer, conductor and music administrator (Ana Maria, Hatinggabi), dies at 85
- Jan 30 Professor Longhair [Henry Roeland Byrd], American blues singer and pianist, dies from a heart attack at 61
- Feb 7 Ernst Kunz, Swiss composer, dies at 88
- Feb 8 Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer (b. 1936)
- Feb 14 Luitkonwar Rudra Baruah, Assamese composer and actor
- Feb 17 Jerry Fielding, composer (Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes), dies at 57
- Feb 18 Gale Robbins [Betty Gale Murphy], American singer and actress (Fuller Brush Girl, Mr Hex), dies of lung cancer at 58
- Feb 19 Bon Scott [Ronald Belford Scott], Australian rock musician (lead singer and lyricist of AC/DC), dies at 33
- Mar 1 John Jacob Niles, American composer and singer, dies at 87
- Mar 13 Tauno Kullerve Pylkkanen, composer, dies at 61
- Mar 17 Rudolf G Escher, Dutch composer (Vrai Visage de la Paix), dies at 68
- Mar 21 Gideon Fagan, composer, dies at 75
- Mar 25 Walter Susskind, Czech conductor (b. 1913)
- Mar 26 Jon-Jon Poulos, rocker (Buckinghams), dies from drugs at 32
- Mar 29 Annunzio Mantovani, Italian orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 74
- Apr 4 Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine, American country music singer, dies following a heart attack leading to a car crash at 62
Jane Froman
Apr 22 Jane Froman, American singer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), dies at 72
Jane Froman
- Apr 28 Tommy Caldwell, American rocker (Marshall Tucker Band), dies in a jeep crash at 30
- Apr 30 Mary McCarty, American actress and singer (Babes in Toyland, Trapper John MD), dies of a heart attack at 56
- May 14 Wilhelm Weismann, composer, dies at 79
- May 18 Ian Curtis, English rock vocalist (Joy Division), commits suicide at 23
- May 30 Carl Radle, bassist (Derek & Dominoes), dies of a kidney ailment
- Jun 8 Ernst Busch, German singer and actor (b. 1900)
- Jun 20 Gustaf Allan Pettersson, composer, dies at 68
- Jun 21 Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter, dies of a stroke at 56
- Jun 28 Yoshiro Irino, Japanese composer, dies at 58
- Jun 28 José Iturbi, Spanish pianist and conductor (b. 1895)
- Jul 5 Archibald James Potter, Irish composer, dies at 61
- Jul 9 Vinicius de Moraes, Brazilian poet and lyricist (b. 1913)
- Jul 11 Boleslaw Woytowicz, composer, dies at 80
- Jul 15 Henri Martelli, composer, dies at 85
- Jul 25 Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet, singer, and actor (b. 1938)
- Jul 28 Cecil Burleigh, American composer, dies at 95
- Jul 29 Jan Tausinger, composer, dies at 58
- Jul 30 Norman Lloyd, American pianist, author and composer, dies at 70
- Jul 31 Mohd. Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)
- Aug 18 Norman Cazden, composer, dies at 65
- Aug 20 Joe Dassin, American singer (b. 1938)
- Sep 2 William Douglas Denny, composer, dies at 70
- Sep 11 Jose Antonio Calcano, composer, dies at 80
- Sep 15 Bill Evans, US jazz pianist, dies of a bleeding ulcer at 51
- Sep 21 Ernest White, composer, dies at 80
John Bonham
Sep 25 John Bonham, English rock drummer (Led Zeppelin), dies from asphyxiation after heavy alcohol intake at 32
John Bonham
- Oct 25 Virgil Fox, American organist, dies at 68
- Oct 27 Steve Peregrin Took, English musician (Tyrannosaurus Rex), dies of a drug overdose at 31
- Nov 12 Alexander Nicolaas Voormolen, Dutch composer, dies at 85
- Nov 16 O. V. [Overton Vertis] Wright, American blues singer, dies at 41
- Dec 7 Darby Crash, American Punk rocker (Germs), dies of an overdose at 22
John Lennon
Dec 8 John Lennon, British musician, pop star and member of The Beatles (Imagine), shot and killed in NY by Mark David Chapman at 40
John Lennon
- Dec 24 Alec Lafayette Chew Wilder, composer, dies at 73
- Dec 24 Siggie Nordstrom, model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer of The Nordstrom Sisters (b. 1893)
- Dec 25 Louis Neefs, Belgian singer, dies at 43
- Dec 29 Tim Hardin, American singer (Bird on a Wire), dies of a drug overdose at 39