Editing 1976 in music (section)

==Deaths==
*[[January 8]] – [[George Baker (record singer)|George Baker]], singer, 90
*[[January 10]] – [[Howlin' Wolf]], blues musician, 65
*[[January 16]] – [[Vasco Campagnano]], operatic tenor, 65
*[[January 18]] – [[Friedrich Hollaender]], composer, 79
*[[January 23]] – [[Paul Robeson]], singer, 77
*[[January 25]] – [[Chris Kenner]], American singer-songwriter, 46 (heart attack)
*[[January 29]] – [[Jesse Fuller]], blues musician, 79
*[[January 30]] – [[Mance Lipscomb]], blues musician, 80
*[[January 31]] – [[Evert Taube]], composer and singer, 85
*[[February 5]] – [[Rudy Pompilli]], saxophone player and 20-year member of [[Bill Haley & His Comets]], 50 (lung cancer)
*[[February 6]] – [[Vince Guaraldi]], jazz musician and pianist, 47
*[[February 9]] – [[Percy Faith]], bandleader and composer, 67
*[[February 12]] – [[Sal Mineo]], actor and singer, 37 (murdered)
*[[February 13]] – [[Lily Pons]], coloratura soprano, 77
*[[February 22]] – [[Florence Ballard]], [[The Supremes]], 32 (coronary thrombosis)
*[[February 25]] – [[Tarquinia Tarquini]], operatic soprano, 93
*[[February 28]] – [[Fritz Krauss (tenor)|Fritz Krauss]], operatic tenor, 92
*[[March 14]] – [[Busby Berkeley]], musical director and choreographer, 80
*[[March 19]] – [[Paul Kossoff]], guitarist, ([[Free (band)|Free]]), 25 (cerebral and pulmonary oedema)
*[[March 25]] – [[Maria Zamboni]], operatic soprano, 80
*[[March 26]] – [[Duster Bennett]], blues musician, 29 (car accident)
*[[April 9]] – [[Phil Ochs]], protest singer, 35 (suicide)
*[[April 14]] – [[Erna Ellmenreich]], operatic soprano, 90
*[[April 25]] – [[Alexander Brailowsky]], pianist, 80
*[[May 12]] – [[Rudolf Kempe]], conductor, 65
*[[May 14]] – [[Keith Relf]], vocalist ([[The Yardbirds]]), 35 (cardiac arrest due to electrocution)
*[[May 15]] – [[David Munrow]], early music performer, 33 (suicide)
*[[May 21]] – [[Harold Blair]], operatic tenor, 51
*[[May 26]] – [[Maggie Teyte]], operatic soprano, 88
*[[June 6]] – [[Elisabeth Rethberg]], operatic soprano, 81
*[[June 25]] – [[Johnny Mercer]], singer and songwriter, 66
*[[June 28]]
**[[Malcolm Lockyer]], film composer and conductor, 52
**[[Yakov Zak]], pianist and music teacher, 62
*[[August 2]] – [[Cecilia (singer)]], Spanish singer-songwriter, 27 (road accident)
*[[August 6]] – [[Gregor Piatigorsky]], Russian cellist, 73
*[[August 24]] – [[Michael Head (composer)|Michael Head]], composer, 76
*[[August 26]] – [[Lotte Lehmann]], opera singer, 88
*[[August 27]] – [[Mukesh (singer)|Mukesh]], Indian singer, 53 (heart attack)
*[[August 29]] – [[Jimmy Reed]], US blues musician, 50
*[[September 26]] – [[L.C. Robinson]], US blues musician, 61
*[[October 3]] – [[Victoria Spivey]], US singer, pianist and composer, 69
*[[October 11]]
**[[Connee Boswell]], US singer, member of the [[Boswell Sisters]], 68
**[[Alfredo Bracchi]], Italian lyricist, 78
**[[Werner Haas (pianist)|Werner Haas]], pianist, 45 (car accident)
*[[October 21]] – [[Jean Berveiller]], organist and composer, 73
*[[November 12]] – [[Walter Piston]], composer, 82
*[[December 4]]
**[[Benjamin Britten]], composer, 63
**[[Tommy Bolin]], guitarist, 25 (drug-induced suffocation)
*[[December 6]] – [[Raymond Hanson (composer)|Raymond Hanson]], composer, 63
*[[December 28]] – [[Freddie King]], blues musician, 42
*Date Unknown – [[Patrick Kelly (fiddler)|Patrick Kelly]], Irish folk fiddler