1980 in Music - Deaths

Deaths

• January 1 – Adolph Deutsch (82), American composer
• January 3 – Amos Milburn (52), R&B singer and pianist
• January 6
  • Poley McClintock, jazz musician
  • Georgeanna Tillman (36), pop and R&B singer
• January 7 – Larry Williams (44), singer, songwriter and pianist
• January 13 – Andre Kostelanetz (78), Russian-born conductor and arranger
• January 21 - Elvira de Hidalgo (88), coloratura soprano and singing teacher
• January 29 – Jimmy Durante (86), pianist & entertainer
• January 30 – Professor Longhair (61), pianist
• February 17 – Jerry Fielding (57), American conductor and music director (heart failure)
• February 18 – Gale Robbins (58), American singer and actress (lung cancer)
• February 19 – Bon Scott (33), lead singer of AC/DC (alcohol poisoning)
• March 5 – Winifred Wagner (82), daughter-in-law of Richard Wagner, close friend of Adolf Hitler (b. 1897)
• March 14 – Anna Jantar (29), Polish singer (air crash)
• March 18 – Jessica Dragonette (80), American singer
• March 23 – Jacob Miller (27), reggae artist
• March 25 – Walter Susskind (76), Czech conductor
• March 26
  • Jon Paulus (32), the Buckinghams, drug overdose
  • Ted Shapiro (80), songwriter & pianist
• March 28 – Dick Haymes, (63), Argentinian-born US singer and actor
• March 29 – Mantovani (74), Italian-born British orchestra leader and composer
• April 4 – Red Sovine (61), American country & folk singer & songwriter
• April 20 – Katherine Kennicott Davis (87), American composer
• April 28 – Tommy Caldwell (30), bassist of Marshall Tucker Band (car accident)
• May 18 – Ian Curtis (23), lead singer of Joy Division (suicide)
• May 30 – Carl Radle (37), rock bassist
• June 16 – Bob Nolan (72), country singer and songwriter
• June 20 – Allan Pettersson (70), Swedish composer
• June 21 – Bert Kaempfert (56), German composer, bandleader and arranger (stroke)
• June 27 – Barney Bigard (74), jazz clarinetist
• June 28 – Jose Iturbi (84), pianist
• July 5 – A. J. Potter (72), Irish composer
• July 14 – Malcolm Owen (26), Lead singer The Ruts (overdose)
• July 15 – Ben Selvin (82), "The Dean of Recorded Music"
• July 23 – Keith Godchaux (32), keyboardist with Grateful Dead (car accident)
• July 25 – Vladimir Vysotsky (42), Russian singer-songwriter, poet, actor (heart failure)
• July 31 – Mohammed Rafi (55), Indian singer (heart attack)
• August 17 – Harold Adamson (73), lyricist
• August 20 – Joe Dassin (41), singer (heart attack)
• August 26 – Miliza Korjus (71), Estonian-Polish opera singer
• September 7 – Arvella Gray (74), blues and folk singer and guitarist
• September 12 – Lillian Randolph (81), actress and singer
• September 15 – Bill Evans (51), jazz pianist
• September 16 - Ludmila Červinková (72), operatic soprano
• September 25 – John Bonham (32), drummer (Led Zeppelin) (alcohol poisoning)
• October 25 – Virgil Fox (68), organist (cancer)
• October 27 – Steve Peregrin Took (31), bongo player for Tyrannosaurus Rex later a solo artist/frontman, choking
• December 7 – Darby Crash (22)(The Germs) (suicide)
• December 8 – John Lennon (40), singer, guitarist and songwriter (The Beatles) (gunshot)
• December 24 – Siggie Nordstrom (87), American model, actress, entertainer, socialite and lead singer (The Nordstrom Sisters)
• December 29 – Tim Hardin (39), singer-songwriter (heroin overdose)
• December 31 – Robert Pete Williams (66), blues singer and guitarist