- Jan 4 Robert Stigwood, Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur and film producer (Saturday Night Fever, Grease), dies at 81
- Jan 5 Elizabeth Swados, American composer and playwright (1972 TONY), dies at 64
- Jan 5 Pierre Boulez, French composer/conductor (Visage Nuptial), dies at 90
- Jan 5 Nicholas Caldwell, American Rhythm and Blues singer (Whispers), dies at 71
- Jan 7 Troy Shondell, American singer (This Time (We’re Really Breaking Up)), dies from complications of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease at 76
- Jan 7 Kitty Kallen, American singer ("Little Things Mean a Lot"), dies at 94
David Bowie
Jan 10 David Bowie [David Robert Jones], English singer-songwriter (Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust), dies of cancer at 69

David Bowie
- Jan 11 Gilberto Mendes, Brazilian composer, dies at 93
- Jan 14 René Angélil, Canadian music executive, actor and director (Omertà, L'apparition), and husband of Céline Dion, dies of throat cancer at 73
- Jan 16 Gary Loizzo, American rock guitarist and singer (American Breed - "Bend Me, Shape Me"), dies of pancreatic cancer at 70
- Jan 17 Dale "Buffin" Griffin, English rock drummer (Mott The Hoople - "All Young Dudes"), dies at 67
Glenn Frey
Jan 18 Glenn Frey, American singer-songwriter (The Eagles), dies at 67

Glenn Frey
- Jan 24 Yvonne Chouteau, Native American dancer (one of the "five Moons" of Oklahoma), dies at 86
- Jan 25 Denise Duval, French soprano (music of Francis Poulenc), dies at 94
- Jan 25 Leif Solberg, Norwegian organist, choral conductor and composer, dies at 101
- Jan 26 Colin Vearncombe, English singer-songwriter (Black-Wonderful Like), dies after a road accident at 53
- Jan 28 Paul Kantner, American rock singer and guitarist (Jefferson Airplane), dies following a heart attack at 74
- Jan 28 Signe Toly Anderson, American singer, founding member of Jefferson Airplane, dies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 74
- Jan 29 Aurèle Nicolet, Swiss flautist (Berlin Philharmonic), and educator, dies at 90
- Feb 3 Saulius Sondeckis, Lithuanian violinist, conductor, orchestra leader (Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, 1960-2004), dies at 87
- Feb 4 Maurice White, American singer-songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire), dies at 74
- Feb 4 Leslie Bassett, American classical composer (Variations for Orchestra - Pulitzer Prize 1966), and educator (University of Michigan, 1952-92), dies at 93
- Feb 4 Jimmie Haskell [Sheridan Pearlman], American arranger (Ricky Nelson, Chicago, Sheryl Crow), and film and television score composer, dies at 89
- Feb 4 Ulf Söderblom, Finnish conductor (Finnish National Opera, 1973-93), dies at 85
- Feb 6 Dan Hicks, American singer and songwriter (Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks), dies at 74
- Feb 8 Violetta Verdy, French ballerina and teacher, dies at 82
- Feb 14 Steven Stucky, American composer (Los Angeles Philharmonic), dies of cancer at 66
- Feb 15 Denise Matthews "Vanity", singer (Prince protege) and actress (52 Pick Up), dies at 57
- Feb 15 George Gaynes, Dutch-American singer, actor and voice artist (Tootsie, Police Academy, General Hospital), dies at 98
- Feb 15 Louis Lane, American conductor (Akron, 1959-83; Lake Erie Opera, 1964-72), and educator (Cleveland Institute, 1982-2004) dies at 72
- Feb 16 Gwyneth George, Welsh cellist and teacher, dies at 95
- Feb 21 Pascal Bentoiu, Romanian composer, dies at 88
- Feb 22 Sonny James [James Loden], American country music singer-songwriter (Young Love), dies at 87
- Feb 23 Lenny Baker, American musician (Sha Na Na), dies at 69
- Feb 24 Miguel Ángel Coria, Spanish composer of classical music, dies at 78
- Feb 25 John Chilton, English jazz trumpeter (Feetwarmers), dies at 83
- Feb 26 Howard Quilling, American classical composer (From Quiet Beginnings), and educator, dies at 80
- Mar 1 Martha Wright, American actress & singer (South Pacific, The Martha Wright Show), dies at 92
- Mar 5 Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Austrian conductor (Early Music Movement), dies at 86
George Martin
Mar 8 George Martin, British record producer (The Beatles), dies at 90

George Martin
- Mar 9 Robert Horton [Meade Howard Horton Jr.], American actor and singer (Kings Row, Wagon Train, Arena), dies at 91
- Mar 10 Keith Emerson, English rock musician (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), commits suicide at 71
- Mar 10 Gogi Grant [Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg], American singer (The Wayward Wind), dies at 91
- Mar 10 Ernestine Anderson, American jazz vocalist and blues singer, dies at 87
- Mar 14 Peter Maxwell Davies, British composer (Prolation, Taverner), dies at 81
- Mar 16 Frank Sinatra, Jr. , American singer and bandleaderr, dies at 72
- Mar 20 Peter Williams, British organist and musicologist, dies at 78
- Mar 22 Phife Dawg [Malik Taylor] American rapper (A Tribe called Quest), dies from diabetes complications at 45
- Mar 26 David Baker, American composer (Reflections) and educator, dies at 84
- Mar 30 Gianmaria Testa, Italian singer-songwriter, dies of cancer at 57
- Mar 30 Bram Beekman, Dutch organist, composer and teacher (Brabants Conservatory, 1980-2012), dies at 66
- Mar 30 Howard Cable, Canadian conductor, arranger, and composer, dies at 95
- Apr 2 Gato Barbieri, Argentinian Latin jazz musician (Last Tango in Paris), dies at 83
- Apr 2 Mike Gibbons, American rocker (Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods-Billy Don't be a Hero), dies at 71
- Apr 3 Donald "Don" Francks, Canadian actor, singer and musician (Terminal Choice, Finian's Rainbow), dies at 84
- Apr 4 Carlo Mastrangelo, Italian-American rocker (Dion & The Belmonts), dies of cancer at 78
- Apr 5 Leon Haywood, American funk and soul singer, and keyboardist ("It's Got To Be Mellow"; "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You"), dies at 74
Merle Haggard
Apr 6 Merle Haggard, American country music singer (Death Valley Days), dies at 79

Merle Haggard
- Apr 6 Dennis Davis, American drummer (David Bowie), dies of cancer at 66
- Apr 11 Emile Ford, Caribbean-born British singer and engineer (first black male singer to top UK charts), dies at 78
- Apr 12 Alan Loveday, New Zealand and British violinist, dies at 88
- Apr 16 Peter Tolson, English rock guitarist (Pretty Things), dies at 64
- Apr 18 [Julia Liane] Aleah Stanbridge, South African metal musician (Trees of Eternity), dies of cancer at 39
Prince Rogers Nelson
Apr 21 Prince [Rogers Nelson], American singer-songwriter and musician (1999, Purple Rain), dies at 57

Prince Rogers Nelson
- Apr 21 Lonnie Mack, American rocker (Baby What's Wrong), dies at 74
- Apr 24 Papa Wemba, Congolese singer, dies at 66
- Apr 24 Billy Paul [Paul Williams], American singer (Me & Mrs Jones), dies at 81
- Apr 24 Jan Henrik Kayser, Norwegian concert pianist (Grieg Prize, 1978), dies at 83
- Apr 30 Phil Ryan, Welsh keyboardist and composer (Man, Pete Brown), dies at 69
- May 4 Ursula Mamlok, German-American avant-garde composer, and teacher, dies at 93
- May 12 Julius La Rosa, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air), dies at 86
- May 17 Guy Clark, American country singer (Heartbroke), dies at 74
- May 21 Nick Menza, American musician and drummer (Megadeth), dies at 51
- May 31 Corry Brokken, Dutch pop singer (1957 Eurovision), dies at 83
- Jun 2 Freddie Wadling, Swedish actor and musician (The Leather Nun, Fleshquartet), dies at 64
- Jun 5 Phyllis Curtin, American soprano (NYC Opera), dies at 94
- Jun 10 Christina Grimmie, American singer and contestant on "The Voice", dies of a gunshot wound at 22
- Jun 11 Alberto Remedios, British opera and concert singer, dies at 81
- Jun 13 Oleg Karavaichuk, Russian pianist and composer, dies at 88
- Jun 13 Ofelya Hambardzumyan, Armenian folk singer, dies at 91
- Jun 14 Henry McCullough, Irish guitarist (Wings), dies at 72
- Jun 17 Prince Be [Attrell Cordes], American rapper (PM Dawn), dies from diabetes complications at 46
- Jun 20 Bill Ham [Billy Mack Ham], American music impresario and manager (ZZ Top), dies at 79
- Jun 21 Wayne Lamar Jackson, American soul and R&B trumpeter ( Mar-Keys, The Memphis Horns), dies of congestive heart failure at 74
- Jun 23 Ralph Stanley, American bluegrass musician, dies at 89
- Jun 24 Bernie Worrell, American keyboardist (Funkadelic-Cosmic Slop), dies at 72
- Jun 27 Mack Rice, American musician and songwriter (Mustang Sally), dies at 82
- Jun 28 Scotty Moore, American guitarist (for Elvis), dies at 84
- Jun 28 Sergei Cortez, Chilean-Belarusian composer (Jubilee and The Bear; Giordano Bruno), dies at 81
- Jul 4 Geoffrey Shovelton, English opera singer, dies at 80
- Jul 5 Alirio Díaz, Venezuelan guitarist, composer, and musicologist, dies at 92
- Jul 7 Rokusuke Ei, Japanese author and lyricist (Sukiyaki), dies at 83
- Jul 12 Gregg Smith, American choral conductor and composer, dies at 84
- Jul 16 Bonnie Brown, American country singer (The Browns), dies at 77
- Jul 17 Gary S. Paxton [Larry Wayne Stevens], American musician and songwriter (Monster Mash, Alley Oop), dies at 77
- Jul 20 Wayne Carson, American country musician and songwriter (Always On My Mind), dies at 73
- Jul 24 Marni Nixon, American singer (for Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood & Deborah Kerr), dies at 86
- Jul 26 Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish composer (Kaivos), dies at 87
- Jul 30 Gloria DeHaven, American musical actress (Step Lively), dies at 91
- Aug 6 Pete Fountain, American jazz clarinetist (Lawrence Welk 1957-59), dies at 86
- Aug 15 Bobby Hutcherson, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player ("Little B's Poem"; SFJAZZ Collective), dies of emphysema at 75
- Aug 20 Irving Fields [Yitzhak Schwartz], American lounge pianist and composer (Ilona Massey Show; Bagels & Bongos), dies at 101
- Aug 20 Matt Roberts, American rock guitarist (3 Doors Down - "When I'm Gone") dies of prescription drug overdose at 38
- Aug 22 Toots [Jean-Baptiste] Thielemans, Belgian-American jazz musician and composer, dies at 94
- Aug 25 Rudy Van Gelder, American recording engineer (Miles Davis, John Coltrane), dies at 91
- Aug 28 Juan Gabriel [Alberto Aguilera Valadez], Mexican singer, dies at 66
- Aug 31 Jacques Leduc, Belgian composer, dies at 84
- Sep 1 Raymond Daveluy, Canadian organist (St. Joseph's Montreal, 1960-2002), composer and educator, dies at 89
- Sep 8 Prince Buster [Cecil Bustamente Campbell], Jamaican-born reggae musician and producer (Madness), dies at 78
- Sep 10 Knut Wiggen, Norwegian computer music pioneer and composer, dies at 89
- Sep 21 John D. Loudermilk, American country singer and songwriter (Tobacco Road), dies at 82
- Sep 24 Buckwheat Zydeco [Stanley Dural, Jr.], American B-3 organist, accordionist and singer (Where There's Smoke, There's Fire), dies of lung cancer at 68
- Sep 25 Jean Shepard, American country singer (Ozark Jubilee), dies of Parkinson's disease at 82
- Sep 30 Oscar Brand, Canadian-born American folk vocalist (Draw Me a Laugh), dies at 96
- Oct 2 Neville Marriner, English conductor and violinist (Academy of St Martin in the Fields), dies at 92
- Oct 2 Thomas Round, British tenor (Gilbert and Sullivan For All), dies at 100
- Oct 4 Donald H. White, American composer (Lyric Suite for Euphonium and Winds; Tuba Sonata) and educator, dies at 95
- Oct 13 Gerhard Wimberger, Austria composer (Glove), dies at 93
- Oct 19 Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina, dies at 99
- Oct 24 Pete Burns, English singer (Dead or Alive, "Spin Me Round"), dies of a cardiac arrest at 57
- Oct 24 Bobby Vee, American pop singer (Night has a Thousand Eyes), dies at 73
- Oct 29 Roland Dyens, French classical guitarist, composer, and arranger (Libra Sonatine), dies at 61
- Nov 3 Kay Starr [Katherine Starks], American singer (Wheel of Fortune), dies at 94
- Nov 4 Eddie Harsch [Edward Hawrysch], Canadian keyboardist (Bulldog, The Black Crowes), dies at 59
- Nov 6 Zoltan Kocsis, Hungarian pianist and conductor, dies of cancer at 64
Leonard Cohen
Nov 7 Leonard Cohen, Canadian writer and singer-songwriter (Death of Ladies Man), dies at 82

Leonard Cohen
- Nov 9 Al Caiola, American guitarist (Bonzanza theme), dies at 96
- Nov 11 Raynoma Singleton [Gordy], music producer and singer-songwriter (Motown), dies at 79
- Nov 13 Leon Russell, American musician and singer-songwriter (Carny), dies at 74
- Nov 14 Holly Dunn, American country singer (Daddy's Hands), dies of cancer at 59
- Nov 15 Mose Allison, American jazz and blues piano player, singer, and composer ("Everybody's Cryin Mercy"; "Your Mind Is on Vacation"), dies at 89
- Nov 15 Milt Okun, American music producer, conductor, and arranger (John Denver; Peter, Paul and Mary), dies at 92
- Nov 15 Jules Eskin, American cellist (Boston Symphony, 1964-2016), dies of cancer at 85 [1]
- Nov 18 Sharon Jones, American soul singer (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings), dies of cancer at 60
- Nov 24 Pauline Oliveros, American composer (Sound Patterns), dies at 84
- Nov 24 Florence Henderson, American actress and singer (Carol in The Brady Bunch), dies at 82
- Nov 25 Russell Oberlin, American countertenor (Pro Musica Antiqua, 1952-66) and educator (Hunter, 1966-94), dies at 88 [1]
- Nov 25 Alexander Yossifov, Bulgarian conductor and composer (Back To The Beginning), dies at 76
- Nov 28 Allan Zavod, Australian classical and jazz pianist and composer, dies of brain cancer at 71
- Nov 28 Mark Taimanov, Russian pianist, dies at 90
- Dec 1 Elisabeth Carron, American soprano ("The Saint of Bleecker Street"; New York City Opera, 1958-73), dies at 94
- Dec 3 Antonio Membrado, Spanish-French classical guitarist and composer, dies at 81
- Dec 3 Gigliola Frazzoni, Italian operatic soprano, dies at 93
- Dec 4 Radim Hladík, Czech guitarist (The Blue Effect), dies from lung illness at 69
- Dec 7 Greg Lake, English rock vocalist and bassist (King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer), dies of cancer at 69
- Dec 7 Junaid Jamshed, Pakistani singer (Vital Signs 1), dies in a plane crash at 52
- Dec 13 Alan Thicke, Canadian actor, singer-songwriter (Thicke of the Night, Growing Pains), dies at 69
- Dec 14 Karel Husa, Czech-American Pulitzer prize winning composer (Trojan Women), dies at 95
- Dec 21 Weston Noble, American music educator and conductor (Luther College, 1948-2005), dies at 94
- Dec 23 Heinrich Schiff, Austrian cellist and conductor, dies at 65
- Dec 24 Jack Philip Cannon, British composer, dies at 87
George Michael
Dec 25 George Michael [Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou], English singer-songwriter and pop superstar (Wham!, I Want Your Sex), dies of suspected heart failure at 53

George Michael
- Dec 25 Alphonse Mouzon, American jazz musician (Weather Report, Tenacious Records), dies from cancer at 68
- Dec 25 Valery Khalilov, Russian military conductor and composer, dies in a plane crash in the Black Sea, near Sochi, at 64
- Dec 26 George S. Irving [Shelasky], American broadway singer and actor (Dumplings), dies at 94