1994 in Music - Deaths

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)