- Jan 29 Bantcho Bantchevsky, US opera singer, commits suicide
- Jan 29 Rogier van Otterloo, Dutch composer and conductor, dies at 46
- Feb 10 Paolo Renosto, Italian composer, dies at 52
- Feb 14 Frederick Loewe [Friedrich Löwe], Austrian-born American composer (My Fair Lady, Camelot), dies at 86
- Feb 15 Frederick [Fritz] Loewe, composer, dies
- Feb 24 Memphis Slim [John Len Chatman] American blues musician ("Every Day I Have the Blues"), dies at 72
- Mar 6 Konstantin Iliev, Bulgarian composer, dies at 63
- Mar 8 Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
- Mar 10 Andy Gibb, British singer-songwriter, performer and teen idol (Bee Gees-I Just Want to Be Your Everything), dies of myocarditis at 30
- Mar 10 William Brocklesby Wordsworth, composer, dies at 79
- Mar 17 Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer (b. 1949)
- Mar 20 Gil Evans, Canadian/US jazz composer (Out of the Cool), dies at 75
- Mar 31 Talib Rasul Hakim, composer, dies at 48
- Apr 7 Cesar Bresgen, Austrian composer/organist, dies at 74
- Apr 9 Brook Benton [Benjamin Franklin Peay], American soul vocalist (It's Just a Matter of Time, Rainy Night in Georgia), dies of meningitis at 56
- Apr 9 Dave Prater, American singer and musician (Sam & Dave), dies in a car crash at 50
- Apr 14 Herbert Reynolds Inch, composer, dies at 83
- Apr 14 Johan Franco, Dutch composer, dies at 79
- Apr 15 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist (b. 1954)
- Apr 25 Boris Kremenliev, composer, dies at 76
- Apr 25 Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter, sister of Aretha, dies of cancer at 43
- Apr 28 B. W. Stevenson, American country singer, dies at 38
- Apr 29 Jan Kapr, Czech composer, dies at 74
- Apr 30 James McCracken, US tenor, dies at 61
- May 5 George Rose, British actor and singer (Beacon Hill, Holocaust), dies at 68
- May 13 Chet Baker, jazz trumpeter, fell to death out of a hotel window at 59
- May 20 René Defossez, Belgian composer, dies at 82
- May 22 Dennis Day, tenor/comedian (Jack Benny Show, Danny Boy), dies at 71
- May 27 Melvin J "Cy" Oliver, US jazz composer/orchestra leader, dies at 77
- Jun 12 Marcel Poot, Belgian baron and composer, dies at 87
- Jun 19 Zdeněk Blažek, Czech composer and music theorist (Verchovina), dies at 83
- Jun 22 Dennis Day, actor/tenor (Jack Benny Show), dies of ALS at 71
- Jun 22 Jesse Ed Davis, Native American guitarist, dies of a drug overdose at 43
- Jun 25 Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born musician (Anthym/What Is This?, Red Hot Chili Peppers) (b. 1962)
- Jul 1 Hellmuth Christian Wolff, composer, dies at 82
- Jul 1 Lex van Delden, Dutch composer/writer, dies at 68
- Jul 18 Nico, US model/pop singer (Velvet Underground), dies at 43
- Jul 22 Luigi Lucioni, Italian, landscape painter (opera stars), dies at 87
- Jul 29 Pete Drake, American pedal steel guitarist and producer, dies at 55
- Aug 2 Roger Vuataz, composer, dies at 90
- Aug 8 Félix Leclerc, French Canadian singer and composer (Moi, mes souliers), dies at 74
- Aug 9 Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer and surrealist poet, dies at 83
- Aug 11 Jean-Pierre Ponnele, opera director (Carmina Burana), dies at 56
- Aug 12 Jean-Michel Basquiat, US musician/graffiti painter (Gray, SAMO), dies
- Aug 14 Roy Buchanan, American blues guitarist, dies at 48
- Aug 14 Robert Calvert, South African-British writer and musician (Hawkwind), dies of a heart attack at 43
- Aug 16 Milton Adolphus, composer, dies at 75
- Aug 26 Carlos Paião, Portuguese singer (b. 1957)
- Aug 28 Hazel Dawn, US singer/actress (Under Clover, Margie), dies at 98
- Sep 5 Lawrence Brown, American trombonist (Duke Ellington Orchestra), dies at 81
- Sep 22 Rezso Sugar, Hungarian composer, dies at 68
- Sep 23 Arwel Hughes, Welsh composer, dies at 79
- Oct 7 Billy Daniels, African-American singer (Billy Daniels Show), dies of cancer at 73
- Oct 8 Ernst Hermann Meyer, composer, dies at 82
- Oct 19 Son House, American musician (b. 1902)
- Oct 25 Johnnie Richardson, American R&B musician (Johnnie & Joe), dies at 53
- Nov 11 William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor & organist (b. 1900)
- Nov 13 Antal Dorati, Hungarian-American conductor (Dresden Opera 1928-29), dies at 82
- Nov 13 Jaromír Vejvoda, Czech composer (Beer Barrel Polka), dies at 86
- Nov 27 Karel Horky, Czech composer, dies at 79
- Dec 2 Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra)
- Dec 6 Bill Harris, US guitarist (Clovers-Love Potion No 9), dies at 63
- Dec 6 Roy Orbison, American musician (Pretty Woman), dies of a massive heart attack at 52
- Dec 8 Herbert "Tubo" Rhoad, US singer (Persuasions-Good news), dies at 44
- Dec 16 Sylvester [James Jr], American singer-songwriter (Do Ya Wanna Funk), dies of complications from HIV and AIDS at 41
- Dec 22 Tucker Smith, singer/dancer (Cool-West Side Story), dies
- Dec 26 Pablo Sorozábal, Spanish composer, dies at 91