1945 in music

List of years in music (Table)
… 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 …
Related time period or subjects
… 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 … … 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s … … 19th century 20th century 21st century …
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Science more

Events

• The Motion Picture Daily Fame Poll designates Bing Crosby "Top Male Vocalist" for the ninth straight year.
• July 26 - Composer Ernest John Moeran marries cellist Peers Coetmore.
• August 19 - Dick Powell marries June Allyson.
• September 1 - Trio Lescano's last concert on Italian radio.
• November 26 - Charlie Parker makes his first recording as a lead player, also featuring Miles Davis.
• Antal Doráti becomes conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
• Reynaldo Hahn is appointed director of the Paris Opéra.
• Frank Sinatra leaves Your Hit Parade to appear on Max Factor Presents Frank Sinatra and, starting that September, Old Gold Presents Songs By Sinatra
• Ruth Brown runs away from home to marry trumpeter Jimmy Brown and begin her career as a singer.

Publications

• Spade Cooley - Spade Cooley's Western Swing Song Folio (the first songbook to identify the big Western dance band music as Western Swing)

Albums released

• Nat King Cole - King Cole Trio
• Bing Crosby - Merry Christmas
• Glenn Miller - Glenn Miller
• Django Reinhardt - Paris 1945

Biggest hit songs

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1945.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Les Brown & Doris Day	Sentimental Journey	1945		US BB 1 of 1945, US 1 for 9 weeks May 1945, POP 1 of 1945, Europe 37 of the 1940s, RYM 69 of 1945, RIAA 77, Acclaimed 818
2	The Andrews Sisters	Rum & Coca-Cola	1945		US 1940s 1 - January 1945, US 1 for 7 weeks February 1945, US BB 2 of 1945, POP 2 of 1945, RYM 3 of 1944, Europe 6 of the 1940s
3	Perry Como	Till the End of Time	1945		US 1940s 1 - August 1945, US 1 for 9 weeks September 1945, US BB 12 of 1945, POP 23 of 1945, Europe 30 of the 1940s, RYM 85 of 1945
4	Johnny Mercer	On the Atcheson, Topeka & the Sante Fe	1945		US 1940s 1 - July 1945, US 1 for 7 weeks July 1945, US BB 4 of 1945, POP 11 of 1945, RYM 89 of 1945
5	Les Brown	My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time	1945		US 1940s 1 - March 1945, US 1 for 7 weeks April 1945, US BB 7 of 1945, POP 13 of 1945, RYM 70 of 1945

Top hit records

Singer Betty Hutton in 1945

• "11:60 PM" by Harry James
• "A Little on the Lonely Side" by Frankie Carle
• "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" by Johnny Mercer
• "Apple Honey" by Woody Herman
• "Bell Bottom Trousers"
  • by Jerry Colonna
  • by The Jesters
  • by Kay Kyser and his orchestra
  • by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
  • by Tony Pastor and his orchestra
  • by Louis Prima and his orchestra
• "Bijou" by Woody Herman
• "Caldonia" by
  • Louis Jordan
  • Woody Herman
• "Candy" by Johnny Mercer, Jo Stafford, and The Pied Pipers
• "Chickery Chick" by Sammy Kaye
• "(Did You Ever Get) That Feeling in the Moonlight" by Perry Como
• "Dig You Later" by Perry Como
• "Doctor Lawyer Indian Chief" by Betty Hutton
• "Dream" by Frank Sinatra
• "Gotta Be This or That" by Benny Goodman
• "I Can't Begin to Tell You" by Bing Crosby
• "I Don't Care Who Knows It" by Harry James
• "If I Loved You" by Harry James, also Frank Sinatra
• "I'll Buy That Dream" by Harry James
• "I'm Beginning to See the Light" by Harry James
• "I Should Care" by Frank Sinatra
• "It May As Well Be Spring" by Dick Haymes
• "It's Been a Long, Long Time" by Harry James, also Bing Crosby
• "Laura" by Woody Herman
• "Northwest Passage" by Woody Herman
• "Oh! What It Seemed to Be" by Frank Sinatra
• "Rum and Coca-Cola" by Vaughn Monroe
• "Salt Peanuts" by Dizzy Gillespie
• "T'ain't Me" by Les Brown & His Orchestra featuring Doris Day
• "Tampico" by Stan Kenton
• "Temptation" by Perry Como
• "There Goes That Song Again" by Russ Morgan
• "There! I've Said It Again" by Vaughn Monroe
• "Waitin' for the Train to Come In" by Harry James
• "You Belong to My Heart" by Bing Crosby
• "Your Father's Moustache" by Woody Herman

Published popular music

• "All of My Life" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "All Through the Day" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Jerome Kern
• "Along the Navajo Trail" w.m. Dick Charles, Eddie De Lange & Larry Markes
• "Apple Honey" m. Woody Herman
• "Aren't You Glad You're You?" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
• "Atlanta G.A." w. Sunny Skylar m. Arthur Shaftel
• "Autumn Serenade" w. Sammy Gallop m. Peter De Rose
• "Be-Baba-Leba" w.m. Helen Humes
• "The Blond Sailor" w. (Eng) Mitchell Parish, Bell Leib m. Jacob Pfeil
• "Boogie Blues" w.m. Gene Krupa & Ray Biondi
• "Caldonia" w.m. Fleecie Moore
• "The Carousel Waltz" w. Richard Rodgers
• "Cement Mixer" w.m. Slim Gaillard & Lee Ricks
• "Chickery Chick" w. Sylvia Dee m. Sidney Lippman
• "Close as Pages in a Book" w. Dorothy Fields m. Sigmund Romberg. Introduced by Maureen Cannon and Wilbur Evans in the musical Up in Central Park
• "Cruising Down the River" w.m. Eily Beadell & Nell Tollerton
• "Day By Day" w. Sammy Cahn m. Paul Weston & Axel Stordahl
• "Detour" w.m. Paul Westmoreland
• "Dig You Later" w. Harold Adamson m. Jimmy McHugh
• "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Hoagy Carmichael
• "Don't Be a Baby, Baby" w. Buddy Kaye m. Howard Steiner
• "The End of the News" w.m. Noël Coward
• "Everything But You" w.m. Don George, Duke Ellington and Harry James.
• "For Sentimental Reasons" w. Deek Watson m. William Best
• "The Frim Fram Sauce" w.m. Joe Ricardel & Redd Evans
• "Full Moon and Empty Arms" w.m. Buddy Kaye & Ted Mossman
• "Give Me the Moon Over Brooklyn" w.m. Jason Matthews & Terry Shand
• "Give Me the Simple Life" w. Harry Ruby m. Rube Bloom
• "Good Good Good (That's You, That's You)" Roberts, Fisher
• "Gotta Be This or That" w.m. Sunny Skylar
• "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne
• "The Gypsy" w.m. Billy Reid
• "Have I Told You Lately that I Love You?" w.m. Scott Wiseman
• "Her Bathing Suit Never Got Wet" w. Charles Tobias m. Nat Simon
• "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop" w.m. Lionel Hampton & Curley Hamner
• "Homesick - That's All" w.m. Gordon Jenkins
• "The Honeydripper" w.m. Joe Liggins
• "I Can't Begin to Tell You" w. Mack Gordon m. James V. Monaco. Introduced by John Payne and reprised by Betty Grable in the film The Dolly Sisters
• "I Don't Know Enough About You" w.m. Peggy Lee & Dave Barbour
• "I Have But One Heart" Marty Symes, J. Farrow
• "I Wish I Knew" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Warren. Introduced by Dick Haymes in the film Diamond Horseshoe
• "I Wonder" Gant, Leveen
• "I Wonder What Happened To Him" w.m. Noël Coward
• "If I Loved You" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by John Raitt and Jan Clayton in the musical Carousel.
• "I'll Buy That Dream" w. Herb Magison m. Allie Wrubel
• "I'm a Big Girl Now" w.m. Al Hoffmann, Milton Drake & Jerry Livingstone
• "I'm Gonna Love That Guy" w.m. Frances Ash
• "In Acapulco" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Warren. Introduced by Betty Grable in the film Diamond Horseshoe
• "In Love In Vain" w. Leo Robin m. Jerome Kern. Introduced by Louanne Hogan dubbing for Jeanne Crain in the film Centennial Summer
• "In the Middle of May" w. Al Stillman m. Fred Ahlert
• "Isn't It Kinda Fun" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Dick Haymes and Vivian Blaine in the film State Fair. Performed in the 1962 film version by Ann-Margret and David Street
• "It Might as Well Be Spring" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers. Introduced by Louanne Hogan dubbing for Jeanne Crain in the film State Fair. Performed in the 1962 film version by Anita Gordon dubbing for Pamela Tiffin.
• "It's a Grand Night For Singing" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "It's Been a Long, Long Time" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne
• "Johnnie Fedora (and Alice Bluebonnet)" w. Allie Wrubel & Ray Gilbert
• "June is Bustin' Out All Over" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Just a Blue Serge Suit" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Laura" w. Johnny Mercer m. David Raksin
• "Lavender Blue" w. Larry Morey m. Eliot Daniel
• "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne
• "Love Letters" w. Edward Heyman m. Victor Young
• "Love on a Greyhound Bus" w. Ralph Blane & Kay Thompson m. George Stoll
• "Matelot" w.m. Noël Coward. Introduced by Graham Payn in the revue Sigh No More
• "Mister Snow" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Money is the Root of All Evil" w.m. Joan Whitney & Alex Kramer
• "The More I See You" w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Warren
• "Nina" w.m. Noël Coward
• "Oh! What It Seemed To Be" w.m. Bennie Benjamin, George David Weiss & Frankie Carle
• "Personality" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
• "Rodger Young" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" w. Sammy Gallop m. Guy Wood
• "Sigh No More" w.m. Noël Coward
• "Sioux City Sue" w. Ray Freedman m. Dick Thomas
• "Soliloquy" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Some Sunday Morning" w. Ted Koehler m. M.K. Jerome & Ray Heindorf
• "A Stranger in Town" w.m. Mel Tormé
• "Symphony" w.(Eng) Jack Lawrence m. Alex Alstone
• "Tampico" w.m. Allan Roberts & Doris Fisher
• "(Did You Ever Get) That Feeling in the Moonlight?" w.m. James Cavanaugh, Larry Stock & Ira Schuster
• "That Little Dream Got Nowhere" w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
• "That's for Me" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Till the End of Time" w.m. Buddy Kaye & Ted Mossman
• "Two Silhouettes" w. Ray Gilbert m. Charles Wolcott
• "Waitin' for the Train to Come In" w.m. Sunny Skylar & Martin Block
• "We'll Be Together Again" w. Frankie Laine m. Carl Fischer
• "We'll Gather Lilacs" w.m. Ivor Novello
• "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "When the Children Are Asleep" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "The Wild, Wild West" w. Johnny Mercer m. Harry Warren from the film The Harvey Girls
• "You'll Never Walk Alone" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers

Classical music

• Samuel Barber - Cello Concerto
• George Crumb - Four Pieces for violin and piano
• George Crumb - Four Songs for voice, clarinet and piano
• George Crumb - Sonata for piano
• Morton Gould - Viola concerto
• Bohuslav Martinů - Rhapsodie Tcheque
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 9 E flat major, Op. 70
• Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings
• Igor Stravinsky - Ebony Concerto for clarinet and jazz band

Opera

• Benjamin Britten - Peter Grimes
• Paul Dessau - Die Reisen des Glücksgotts
• Frederick Jacobi - The Prodigal Son

Musical theater

• Are You With It? (Music: Harry Revel Lyrics: Arnold B. Horwitt Book: Sam Perrin and George Balzer). Broadway production opened at the Century Theatre on November 10 and ran for 266 performances.
• Billion Dollar Baby (Music: Morton Gould Book & Lyrics: Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on December 21 and ran for 220 performances. Starring Mitzi Green, Joan McCracken, William Tabbert, Danny Daniels and Shirley Van.
• Carousel (Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics and Book: Oscar Hammerstein II) - Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19 and ran for 890 performances.
• The Day Before Spring (Music: Frederick Loewe Lyrics and Book: Alan Jay Lerner)Broadway production opened on November 22 at the National Theatre and ran for 165 performances.
• The Firebrand of Florence (Book: Ira Gershwin & Edwin Justus Mayer, Music: Kurt Weill, Lyrics: Ira Gershwin) Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on March 22 and ran for 43 performances. Starring Lotte Lenya, Earl Wrightson, Beverly Tyler and Melville Cooper.
• Follow The Girls (Music: Phil Charig Lyrics: Dan Shapiro and Milton Pascal Book: Guy Bolton, Eddie Davis and Fred Thompson) - London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on October 25 and ran for 572 performances.
• Marinka Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on July 18 and moved to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on October 1 for a total run of 165 performances
• Perchance To Dream (Music, Lyrics and Book: Ivor Novello) - London production opened at the London Hippodrome on April 21 and ran for 1022 performances.
• The Red Mill(Music: Victor Herbert Lyrics and Book: Henry Blossom). Broadway revival opened on October 16 at the Ziegfeld Theatre and ran for 531 performances.
• Sigh No More London revue opened at the Piccadilly Theatre on August 28
• Under the Counter London production opened at the Phoenix Theatre on November 22 and ran for 665 performances
• Up in Central Park (Music: Sigmund Romberg Lyrics: Dorothy Fields Book: Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields). Broadway production opened at the Century Theatre on January 27 and ran for 504 performances.

Musical films

• Anchors Aweigh starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly. Directed by George Sidney.
• The Bells of St Mary's starring Ingrid Bergman and Bing Crosby. Directed by Leo McCarey.
• The Blonde from Brooklyn released June 21, starring Lynn Merrick and Richard Stanton, with Gwen Verdon in a minor role.
• Blonde Ransom starring Donald Cook and Virginia Grey. Directed by William Beaudine.
• Bring on the Girls starring Veronica Lake, Sonny Tufts, Eddie Bracken and Marjorie Reynolds and featuring Spike Jones and his Orchestra.
• Abbott and Costello in Hollywood starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Frances Rafferty, Bob Stanton and Jean Porter. Directed by S. Sylvan Simon.
• Delightfully Dangerous satrring Jane Powell, Ralph Bellamy, Constance Moore, Arthur Treacher and Morton Gould & his Orchestra. Directed by Arthur Lubin.
• Diamond Horseshoe aka Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe starring Betty Grable, Dick Haymes, Phil Silvers, William Gaxton and Beatrice Kay and featuring vaudevillian Willie Solar in his only filmed performance.
• The Dolly Sisters released November 14 starring Betty Grable, June Haver and John Payne.
• Duffy's Tavern starring Ed Gardner, Betty Hutton, Bing Crosby, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken, Sonny Tufts, Barry Fitzgerald and Veronica Lake. Directed by Hal Walker.
• Eadie Was a Lady starring Ann Miller
• Here Come the Co-eds starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello and Peggy Ryan. Directed by Edgar Fairchild.
• Hit the Hay starring Judy Canova
• Let's Go Steady released January 4 starring Pat Parrish and Jackie Moran and featuring Mel Tormé and Skinnay Ennis.
• Nob Hill starring George Raft, Joan Bennett and Vivian Blaine.
• Out of This World starring Eddie Bracken, Veronica Lake and Cass Daley
• Rhapsody In Blue starring Robert Alda, Joan Leslie and Alexis Smith and featuring Hazel Scott.
• A Song for Miss Julie starring Shirley Ross
• State Fair starring Dick Haymes, Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews and Vivian Blaine.
• The Stork Club starring Betty Hutton, Barry Fitzgerald, Don DeFore, Andy Russell and Robert Benchley
• Thrill of a Romance starring Van Johnson and Esther Williams and featuring Lauritz Melchior
• Tonight and Every Night starring Rita Hayworth, Lee Bowman and Janet Blair.
• Yolanda and the Thief starring Fred Astaire, Lucille Bremer, Frank Morgan, Mildred Natwick and Mary Nash. Directed by Vincente Minnelli.

Births

• January 3 - Stephen Stills, singer, songwriter and guitarist
• January 9 - Jimmy Page, guitarist (The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin)
• January 10 - Rod Stewart, rock singer
• January 15 - Joan Johnson (The Dixie Cups)
• January 17
  • William Hart (The Delfonics)
  • Ivan Karabyts, Ukrainian conductor and composer
• January 19 - Rod Evans (Deep Purple)
• January 20 - Eric Stewart, singer and songwriter (The Mindbenders, 10cc)
• January 26
  • Jacqueline du Pré, cellist (died 1987)
  • Ashley Hutchings, Fairport Convention
• January 27 - Nick Mason, Pink Floyd
• February 6 - Bob Marley, reggae superstar (died 1981)
• February 14 - Vic Briggs, guitarist
• February 20 - Alan Hull, singer-songwriter (Lindisfarne) (died 1995)
• February 26
  • Bob Hite, Canned Heat
  • Mitch Ryder
• February 27 - Carl Anderson, actor and singer
• March 6 - Hugh Grundy (The Zombies)
• March 7 - Arthur Lee (Love)
• March 8 - Micky Dolenz, singer, songwriter and actor (The Monkees)
• March 9 - Robin Trower (Procol Harum)
• March 10 - Ramón Ayala, accordion player and norteño
• March 14 singer
  • Walter Parazaider, Chicago
  • Jasper Carrott, comedian and singer
• March 17 - Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
• March 19 - Cem Karaca, Turkish rock musician
• March 28 - Charles Portz (The Turtles)
• March 30 - Eric Clapton, blues guitarist and singer
• April 1 - John Barbata (Jefferson Starship) , The Turtles
• April 9 - Steve Gadd, American session drummer
• April 13 - Lowell George (Little Feat)
• April 14 - Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow)
• April 20 - Frank DiLeo, American actor and music industry executive
• April 24 - Robert Knight, singer
• April 25
  • Björn Ulvaeus, singer and songwriter (ABBA)
  • Stu Cook (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
• April 28 - John Wolters, Dr. Hook
• April 29 - Tammi Terrell, Soul singer (d. 1970)
• May 1 - Rita Coolidge, singer
• May 2
  • Goldy McJohn, Steppenwolf
  • Judge Dread, English reggae singer/rapper (d. 1998)
• May 4 - George Wadenius (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
• May 6
  • Bob Seger, singer-songwriter
  • Jimmie Dale Gilmore, country musician
• May 7 - Christy Moore, folk musician
• May 8 - Keith Jarrett, pianist and composer
• May 9 - Steve Katz, Blues Project, Blood, Sweat & Tears
• May 12 - Ian McLagan, The Faces
• May 13 - Magic Dick, The J. Geils Band
• May 19 - Pete Townshend, The Who
• May 24 - Priscilla Presley, wife of Elvis
• May 27 - Bruce Cockburn, Canadian singer/songwriter
• May 28
  • John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
  • Gary Stewart, American singer (d. 2003)
  • Chayito Valdez, folk singer
• May 29 - Gary Brooker, singer and keyboardist (Procol Harum)
• June 1
  • Linda Scott, singer
  • Frederica von Stade, operatic mezzo-soprano
• June 2 - Lord David Dundas, singer and composer
• June 4
  • Gordon Waller, singer (Peter and Gordon)
  • Anthony Braxton, avant-garde jazz composer
• June 14 - Rod Argent, The Zombies, Argent
• June 20 - Anne Murray, singer
• June 24 - Colin Blunstone, singer
• June 25
  • Carly Simon, singer-songwriter
  • Labi Siffre, singer-songwriter
• July 26 - Betty Davis, singer
• June 28 - Dave Knights, Procol Harum
• July 1 - Debbie Harry, singer (Blondie)
• July 6 - R. K. Elswit (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show)
• July 15 - Peter Lewis (Moby Grape)
• July 18 - Danny McCulloch (The Animals)
• July 20
  • Kim Carnes, singer
  • John Lodge (The Moody Blues)
• July 23 - Dino Danelli, The Rascals
• July 30 - David Sanborn, saxophonist
• August 16 - Gary Liozzo, American Breed
• August 18 - Barbara Harris (The Toys)
• August 19 - Ian Gillan, rock singer (Deep Purple)
• August 24
  • Randy Silverman (Vito & The Salutations)
  • Ken Hensley (Uriah Heep (band))
  • Malcolm Duncan (musician) (Average White Band)
  • Ronee Blakley, composer
• August 31
  • Van Morrison, musician
  • Itzhak Perlman, violinist
• September 4 - Bill Kenwright, producer of West End musicals
• September 5 - Al Stewart, singer-songwriter
• September 8
  • Jose Feliciano, singer, guitarist and songwriter
  • Ron McKernan (Grateful Dead)
  • Kelly Groucutt (Electric Light Orchestra)
• September 9 - Dee Dee Sharp, R&B singer
• September 15 - Jessye Norman, opera singer
• September 17 - Danny Rivera, singer
• September 19 - David Bromberg, guitarist
• September 23 - Paul Petersen, singer and actor
• September 24 - John Rutter, composer
• September 25 - Onnie McIntire (Average White Band)
• September 26
  • Bryan Ferry, singer and songwriter
  • Gal Costa, Brazilian singer
• October 1 - Donny Hathaway, singer (d. 1978)
• October 2 - Don McLean, singer-songwriter
• October 7 - Kevin Godley, singer and songwriter
• October 9 - Chucho Valdés, jazz musician
• October 10 - Alan Cartwright (Procol Harum)
• October 19 - Jeannie C. Riley, country singer
• October 26 - Leslie West (Mountain)
• October 28 - Wayne Fontana, singer
• October 29 - Melba Moore, singer
• October 31 - Russ Ballard, Argent, singer-songwriter
• November 8
  • Donald Murray (The Turtles)
  • Arnold Rosner, composer
• November 10 - Donna Fargo, country musician
• November 11
  • Chris Dreja, British rock musician (The Yardbirds)
  • Vincent Martell, Vanilla Fudge
• November 12 - Neil Young, singer-songwriter
• November 15 - Anni-Frid Lyngstad, singer (ABBA)
• November 20 - Dan McBride (Sha Na Na)
• November 24 - Lee Michaels, keyboardist and singer
• November 26 - John McVie, guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
• December 1 - Bette Midler, singer and actress
• December 10 - Toots Hibbert, Toots & the Maytals
• December 12 - Alan Ward, The Honeycombs
• December 14 - Stanley Crouch, music critic
• December 20 - Peter Criss, KISS
• December 23 - Ronald Busby, Iron Butterfly
• December 24 - Lemmy, Motörhead
• December 25 - Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix Experience) (d. 2003)
• December 27 - Clarence Barlow, composer
• December 30 - Davy Jones, singer and actor
• date unknown - Abed Azrie, singer

Deaths

• January 4 - Michael Coleman, fiddle player (born 1893)
• January 17 - Malcolm McEachern, operatic bass (born 1883)
• January 30 - Herbert L. Clarke, Cornet Virtuoso and composer (born 1867)
• February - David Beigelman, violinist, orchestra leader, and composer (born 1887)
• February 5 - Volga Hayworth, showgirl (born c. 1898)
• February 25 - Mário de Andrade, writer and musicologist (born 1893)
• February 7 - Aldo Finzi, composer (born 1897)
• February 11 - Al Dubin, songwriter (born 1891)
• March - Joseph Fournier de Belleval, operatic baritone and music teacher (born 1892)
• March 2 - Jean-Baptiste Lemire, composer (born 1867)
• March 3 - Blanche Arral, operatic soprano (born 1864)
• April 15 - Raffaello Squarise, violinist, conductor and composer (born 1856)
• April 19 - Alois Burgstaller, operatic tenor (born 1872)
• April 25 - Teddy Weatherford, jazz pianist (born 1903) (cholera)
• April 29 - Dezső Antalffy-Zsiross, Hungarian organist and composer (born 1885)
• June 26 - Nikolai Tcherepnin, composer (born 1873)
• June 28 - Jonny Heykens, Dutch composer and orchestra leader (born 1884)
• July 24 - Rosina Storchio, operatic soprano (born 1876)
• August 2
  • Pietro Mascagni, composer (born 1863)
  • Emil von Reznicek, composer (born 1860)
• August 19 - Carl Wilhelm Kern, pianist and composer (born 1874)
• August 23 - Leo Borchard, conductor (born 1899) (shot)
• August 31 - Elsa Stralia, operatic soprano (born 1881)
• September 15 - Anton Webern, composer (born 1883) (shot)
• September 16 - John McCormack, tenor (born 1884)
• September 18 - Blind Willie Johnson, gospel singer and guitarist (born 1897) (pneumonia)
• September 25 - Julius Korngold, music critic (born 1860)
• September 26 - Béla Bartók, composer (born 1881)
• October 16 - James V. Monaco, Italian-born US composer (born 1885)
• November 3 - Alessandro Longo, composer and musicologist (born 1864)
• November 7 - Gus Edwards, Prussian-born US songwriter, entertainer and producer (born 1879)
• November 11 - Jerome Kern, composer (born 1885) (cerebral haemorrhage)
• December 24 - Adelina Stehle, operatic soprano (born 1860)
• December 30 - France Ačko, Slovenian organist and composer (born 1904)
• date unknown
  • Gustave Huberdeau, operatic bass-baritone (born 1874)
  • Leo Rich Lewis, composer (born c.1865)
  • Viktor Selyavin, operatic tenor (born 1875)