Deaths
- January 6 – Harold Sumberg, violinist, 88
- January 15 – Harry Nilsson, singer, songwriter, 52 (heart attack)
- January 17 – Georges Cziffra, pianist, 72
- February 5 - Tiana Lemnitz, operatic soprano, 96
- February 7 – Witold Lutosławski, composer, 81
- February 8 - Raymond Scott, composer and bandleader, 85
- February 22 - Papa John Creach, blues violinist, 76
- February 24 – Dinah Shore, singer, actress, 77
- March 6 – Yvonne Fair, African-American singer, 51
- March 13 – Danny Barker, jazz musician and composer, 85
- March 16 – Nicolas Flagello, composer, 66
- March 18 - Ephraim Lewis, soul and R&B singer, 26
- March 22 – Dan Hartman, singer, 42 (brain tumour)
- March 23 – Donald Swann, pianist, composer and entertainer (Flanders and Swann), 70
- April 5 – Kurt Cobain, singer & guitarist (Nirvana), 27 (self-inflicted shotgun wound)
- April 7 - Lee Brilleaux, R&B singer, 41 (cancer)
- April 19 - Larry Davis, blues singer and guitarist, 57
- May 23 - Joe Pass, jazz guitarist, 65 (liver cancer)
- May 25 - Eric Gale, jazz guitarist, 55 (lung cancer)
- May 26 - Sonny Sharrock, jazz guitarist, 53
- May 27 - Red Rodney, bop trumpeter, 66
- May 29 - Oliver Jackson, jazz drummer, 61
- May 31 - Herva Nelli, operatic soprano, 85
- June 4 - Earle Warren, saxophonist, 79
- June 11 – Robert Beadell, composer, 68
- June 14 – Henry Mancini, composer, 70
- June 15 – Manos Hadjidakis, composer, 68
- June 16 – Kristen Pfaff, bass guitarist (Hole), 27 (heroin overdose)
- June 25
- Kin Vassy, songwriter, performer, co-lead singer and guitarist of The First Edition 1969–72 (lung cancer), 50
- DJ Train, producer (smoke inhalation)
- June 29 – Kurt Eichhorn, conductor, 85
- July 2 - Marion Williams, gospel singer, 66
- July 31 – Anne Shelton, British singer, 70
- August 6 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer and songwriter, 66
- September 2 – Roy Castle, musician and all-round entertainer, 62 (lung cancer)
- September 3 - Major Lance, R&B singer, 55
- September 6
- Nicky Hopkins, session musician, keyboardist, 50 (complications from intestinal surgery)
- Max Kaminsky, jazz trumpeter and bandleader, 85
- September 13 – John Stevens, jazz musician
- September 20 – Jule Styne, songwriter, 88
- September 24 – Urmas Alender, singer, 40 (drowned in MS Estonia sinking)
- September 29 – Cheb Hasni, Algerian Raj musician, 26 (murdered)
- October 4 - Danny Gatton, guitarist, 49
- October 19 – Martha Raye, singer and comedienne, 88
- October 22
- Jimmy Miller, record producer, 52
- Shlomo Carlebach, Jewish songwriter
- October 26 - Wilbert Harrison, R&B singer, pianist, guitarist and harmonica player, 65
- October 27 - Robert White, Motown session guitarist, 57
- October 31 - Lester Sill, record executive, 76
- November 4 – Fred "Sonic" Smith, MC5 guitarist, 45 (heart attack)
- November 7 – Shorty Rogers, jazz trumpeter, 70
- November 11 – Elizabeth Maconchy, composer, 87
- November 18 – Cab Calloway, jazz and scat singer, 86
- November 28 – Vic Legley, Belgian violist and composer of French birth, 79
- December 8 – Antonio Carlos Jobim, bossa nova composer and songwriter
- December 10 – Garnett Silk, reggae singer, 28 (house fire)
Read more about this topic: 1994 In Music
Famous quotes containing the word deaths:
“There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldiers sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.”
—Philip Caputo (b. 1941)
“On almost the incendiary eve
Of deaths and entrances ...”
—Dylan Thomas (19141953)
“Death is too much for men to bear, whereas women, who are practiced in bearing the deaths of men before their own and who are also practiced in bearing life, take death almost in stride. They go to meet deaththat is, they attempt suicidetwice as often as men, though men are more successful because they use surer weapons, like guns.”
—Roger Rosenblatt (b. 1940)