1981 in Music - Deaths

Deaths

• January 1 - Hephzibah Menuhin, pianist and human rights campaigner, 60
• January 4 - Ruth Lowe, pianist and songwriter, 66
• January 23 – Samuel Barber, composer, 70
• January 25 – Adele Astaire, US dancer, actress and singer, 84
• February 1
  • Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer, 72
  • Ernst Pepping, composer, 79
• February 9 – Bill Haley, rock and roll pioneer, 55 (heart attack)
• February 15 – Mike Bloomfield, blues guitarist, 37 (accidental drug overdose)
• February 21 – Ron Grainer, electronic music pioneer and composer, 58
• February 26 – Howard Hanson, composer, 84
• April 5
  • Bob Hite, vocalist (Canned Heat), 38 (heart attack)
  • Maurice Zbriger, violinist, composer and conductor
• April 7 – Kit Lambert, former manager and producer of The Who, 45 (fell downstairs)
• April 8 – Burt Shevelove, librettist, 66
• April 14 – Ivan Galamian, violin teacher, 78
• April 28 – Steve Currie, bassist of T.Rex, 33 (car crash)
• May 11 – Bob Marley, reggae musician, 36 (cancer)
• May 25 – Roy Brown, blues singer, 55
• May 28 – Mary Lou Williams, jazz pianist, 71
• July 16 – Harry Chapin, US singer-songwriter, 38 (car crash)
• August 18 – Robert Russell Bennett, composer and arranger, 87
• August 26 - Lee Hays, folk singer, 67
• September 2 – Tadeusz Baird, composer, 53
• September 8 – Master Venu, film composer, 65
• September 14 - Furry Lewis, country blues guitarist and songwriter, 88
• September 15 – Chick Bullock, US singer, 72
• October 5 – Sven Gyldmark, film composer, 77
• October 13 – Marius Casadesus, violinist and composer, 88
• October 15 – Elsie Randolph, English actress, dancer and singer, 77
• October 29 – Georges Brassens, singer-songwriter, 60
• November 27 – Lotte Lenya, actress and singer, wife of Kurt Weill, 83
• December 13 – Cornelius Cardew, avant-garde composer, 45 (road accident)
• December 27 – Hoagy Carmichael, pianist, singer and songwriter, 82
• date unknown - Frank Merrick, pianist