On This Day

Musicians Who Died on February 27

  • 1731 Angelo Predieri, Italian composer, dies at about 76
  • 1797 Benvenuto Robbio San Raffaele, Italian composer, dies at 61
  • 1805 Stefan Paluselli, Austrian choirmaster, composer, and monk, dies at 57
  • 1852 Joseph Drechsler, Czech composer, dies at 69
  • 1887 Alexander Borodin, Russian composer and scientist, dies at 53
  • 1923 Charles Francis Abdy Williams, composer, dies at 67
  • 1929 Manuel Manrique de Lara, Spanish composer (The Oresteia), dies at 65
  • 1956 Frank Dailey, American orchestra leader (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at 54
  • 1956 Gunther Ramin, German organist and composer, dies at 57
  • 1968 Frankie Lymon, American pop singer (The Teenagers - "Why Do Fools Fall In Love"), dies of a heroin overdose at 25
  • 1968 Ludvik Podest, Czech composer, music journalist, and conductor dies at 46
  • 1969 John Boles, American singer and actor (Stella Dallas, Curly Top), dies at 73
  • 1973 Lucijan Marija Skerjanc, Yugoslav conductor and composer, dies at 72
  • 1978 Vadim Salmanov, Soviet Russian composer, dies at 65
  • 1982 Malika Sabirova, Soviet Tajik ballet dancer, dies at 39
  • 1985 Ray Ellington [Henry Pitts Brown], British jazz drummer, singer and bandleader (The Goon Show), dies of cancer at 68
  • 1991 Hein van Royen, Dutch director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1974-91), dies at 52
  • 1993 Marģeris Zariņš, Latvian composer and writer, dies at 82
  • 1993 Marlena Davis, American pop singer (The Orlons - "Don't Hang Up"; "South Street"), dies of lung cancer at 48
  • 1994 Roosevelt Holts, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 89
  • 1999 Horace Tapscott, American jazz pianist and composer (Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, 1961-98), dies at 64
  • 2003 John Lanchbery, British-Australian composer and conductor (Royal Ballet, 1959-72; Australian Ballet, 1972-77; American Ballet Theatre, 1978-80), dies at 79
  • 2006 Milton Katims, American violist and conductor (Seattle Symphony, 1954–76), dies at 96
  • 2007 Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer and bandleader, dies of Alzheimer's disease at 82
  • 2011 Eddie Kirkland, Jamaican-American blues guitarist, singer and harmonica player (Have Mercy On Me), dies in a car accident at 87
  • 2013 Richard Street, American R&B musician (The Temptations), dies at 70
  • 2013 Van Cliburn, American pianist (Tchaikovsky Competition winner, 1958), dies at 78
  • 2017 Jórunn Viðar, Icelandic pianist and composer, dies at 98
  • 2019 Doug Sandom, British drummer (The Who, 1962-64), dies at 89
  • 2022 Hanna Havrylets, Ukrainian composer (David's Psalms; Ėlegiya), and educator, dies at 63


Famous People by Cause of Death

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