List of murdered musicians

Many musicians have been murdered during their active career. Most of the musicians had been shot or stabbed to death. Some of them have received extensive media attention, including the murder of John Lennon in 1980, the killing of Marvin Gaye in 1984, the murder of Selena in 1995, the murder of Tupac Shakur in 1996, the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. in 1997, the murder of XXXTentacion in 2018, and the assassination of Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022. Others have received less media attention, including the murder of Bryan Harvey, who was killed during the 2006 Richmond spree murders.

For hip hop musicians see: list of murdered hip hop musicians.

Murdered musicians

Below is a list of notable murders of musicians.

Name	Known as	Date of murder	Age	Site of death	Perpetrator	Method of murder	Credit	Ref.
Alessandro Stradella	Alessandro Stradella	25 February 1682	38	Genoa, Italy	Unknown	Stabbing	Classical composer	[1]
Jean-Marie Leclair	Jean-Marie Leclair	22 October 1764	67	Paris, France	Unknown	Stabbing	Classical composer and violinist	[2]
Clarence Smith	Pinetop Smith	15 March 1929	24	Chicago, Illinois, US	Unknown	Shooting	Boogie-woogie pianist	[3]
Alejandro García Caturla	Alejandro García Caturla	12 November 1940	34	Havana, Cuba	Unknown	Unknown	Classical composer	[4][circular reference]
Anton Webern	Anton Webern	15 September 1945	61	Vienna, Austria	Pfc. Raymond Norwood Bell	Shooting	Classical composer	[5]
John Williamson	Sonny Boy Williamson	1 June 1948	34	Chicago, Illinois, US	Unknown	Shooting	Blues singer	[6]
Francis Blackwell	Scrapper Blackwell	7 October 1962	59	Indianapolis, Indiana, US	Unknown	Shooting	Blues guitarist, composer
Marc Blitzstein	Marc Blitzstein	22 January 1964	58	Martinique	Three men	Beating	Classical/musical theatre composer	[7]
Sam Cooke	Sam Cooke	11 December 1964	33	Los Angeles, US	Bertha Franklin	Shooting	Soul singer-songwriter
Darrell Banks	Darrell Banks	24 February, 1970	32	Detroit, Michigan, US	Aaron Bullock	Shooting	Soul singer
Curtis Ousley	King Curtis	13 August 1971	37	New York City, US	Juan Montanez	Stabbing	Jazz saxophonist	[8]
Lee Morgan	Lee Morgan	19 February 1972	33	New York City, US	Helen Morgan	Shooting	Jazz trumpeter
Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez	Víctor Jara	16 September 1973	40	Santiago, Chile	Chilean military officers	Shooting and torture	Singer-songwriter
David Akeman	Stringbean	10 November 1973	58	Ridgetop, Tennessee, US	John A. Brown and Marvin Douglas Brown	Shooting	Country banjo player	[9]
Albert Jackson Jr.	Al Jackson Jr.	1 October 1975	39	Memphis, Tennessee, US	Unknown	Shooting	R&B, funk and soul drummer	[10]
Eddie Jefferson	Eddie Jefferson	9 May 1979	60	Detroit, Michigan, US	Unknown	Shooting	Vocalese	[11]
Jannie Pought	Jannie Pought	September 1980	34	New Jersey	Unknown	Stabbing	R&B singer	[12]
John Lennon	John Lennon	8 December 1980	40	New York City, US	Mark David Chapman	Shooting	Rock and pop artist
Claude Vivier	Claude Vivier	7 March 1983	34	Paris, France	Pascal Dolzan	Stabbing	Classical composer	[13]
Felix Pappalardi Jr.	Felix Pappalardi	17 April 1983	43	New York City, US	Gail Pappalardi	Shooting	Rock artist	[14]
Hugh Mundell	Hugh Mundell	14 October 1983	21	Kingston, Jamaica	Ricardo Codrington	Shooting	Reggae singer
Walter Notheis Jr.	Walter Scott	27 December 1983	40	St. Peters, Missouri, US	James H. Williams Sr.	Shooting	Rock and roll singer
Marvin Gaye	Marvin Gaye	1 April 1984	44	Los Angeles, California, US	Marvin Gay Sr.	Shooting	R&B singer
Leonard Breau	Lenny Breau	12 August 1984	43	Los Angeles, California, US	Unknown	Strangling	Guitarist	[15]
Carlton Barrett	Carly Barrett	17 April 1987	36	Kingston, Jamaica	Glenroy Carter and Junior Neil	Shooting	Reggae drummer
Winston Hubert McIntosh	Peter Tosh	11 September 1987	42	Kingston, Jamaica	Dennis Lobban and two other individuals	Shooting and torture	Reggae artist
John Pastorius, III	Jaco Pastorius	21 September 1987	35	Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US	Luc Havan	Beaten (barfight), brain hemorrhage	Jazz bassist
Amar Singh Chamkila	Chamkila	8 March 1988	27	Mehsampur, Punjab, India	Unknown	Shooting	Punjabi singer
Michael David Fuller	Blaze Foley	1 February 1989	39	Austin, Texas, US	Carey January	Shooting	Country, folk singer-songwriter	[16]
Osbourne Ruddock	King Tubby	6 February 1989	48	Kingston, Jamaica	Unknown	Shooting	Reggae sound engineer	[17]
Cornell Gunter	Cornell Gunter	26 February 1990	53	Las Vegas, Nevada, US	Unknown	Shooting	R&B singer
Andrzej Zaucha	Andrzej Zaucha	10 October 1991	42	Kraków, Poland	Yves Goulais	Shooting	R&B singer, saxophonist
Christopher Lamont Bender	Chris Bender	3 November 1991	19	Brockton, Massachusetts, US	Eroy Kindell	Shooting	R&B singer	[18]
David Rowbotham	Dave Rowbotham	8 November 1991	33	Manchester, England	Unknown	Bludgeoned by hammer	Rock musician
Rosalino Sánchez Félix	Chalino Sanchez	16 May 1992	31	Culiacán, Mexico	Unknown	Shooting	Narcocorrido singer	[19]
Willie Irving Gaston Junior	Heavy One	29 September 1992	24	Eaton Road Barry Farms Southeast DC	Unknown	Shooting	Bass, drummer, of the Junk Yard Band	[20]
Mia Zapata	Mia Zapata	7 July 1993	27	Seattle, Washington, US	Jesus Mezquia	Strangling	Rock singer	[21]
Donald Myrick	Don Myrick	30 July 1993	53	Los Angeles, California, US	Police Officer Gary Barbaro	Shooting	Jazz saxophonist	[22]
Øystein Aarseth	Euronymous	10 August 1993	25	Oslo, Norway	Varg Vikernes	Stabbing	Black metal guitarist
Rhett Forrester	Rhett Forrester	22 January 1994	37	Atlanta, Georgia, US	Unknown	Shooting	Heavy metal musician	[23]
Hasni Chakroun	Cheb Hasni	29 September 1994	26	Oran, Algeria	Armed Islamic Group of Algeria	Shooting	Raï singer
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez	Selena	31 March 1995	23	Corpus Christi, Texas, US	Yolanda Saldivar	Shooting	Tejano singer
Tupac Shakur	Tupac; 2Pac; Makaveli	13 September 1996	25	Las Vegas, Nevada, US	Orlando Anderson (suspected)	Shooting	Rapper
Christopher Wallace	The Notorious B.I.G.; Biggie Smalls; Frank White	9 March 1997	24	Los Angeles, California, US	Wardell "Poochie" Fouse (suspected)	Shooting	Rapper
Lounès Matoub	Lounès Matoub	25 June 1998	42	Aït Aissi, Tizi Ouzou, Algeria	Armed Islamic Group of Algeria	Shooting	Kabyle music singer
Jaki Byard	Jaki Byard	11 February 1999	76	New York City, US	Unknown	Shooting	Jazz pianist
Roger Troutman	Roger Troutman	25 April 1999	47	Dayton, Ohio, US	Larry Troutman	Shooting	Funk musician
Darrell Abbott	Dimebag Darrell	8 December 2004	38	Columbus, Ohio, US	Nathan Gale	Shooting	Heavy metal guitarist
Bryan Harvey	Bryan Harvey	1 January 2006	49	Richmond, Virginia, US	Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Javon Gray	Blunt-force trauma	Folk rock singer/guitarist
Valentín Elizalde	Valentin Elizalde	25 November 2006	27	Reynosa, Mexico	Unknown	Shooting	Banda singer	[24]
Winston Riley	Winston Riley	19 January 2012	68	Kingston, Jamaica	Unknown	Shooting	Rocksteady/reggae singer and producer
Natalia Strelchenko	Natalia Strelle	30 August 2015	38	Manchester, England	John Martin	Head trauma, strangulation	Classical pianist	[25]
Christina Grimmie	Christina Grimmie	10 June 2016	22	Orlando, Florida, US	Kevin James Loibl	Shooting	Pop singer
Amjad Sabri	Amjad Sabri	22 June 2016	39	Karachi, Pakistan	Pakistani Taliban	Shooting	Qawwali singer	[26]
Jahseh Onfroy	XXXTentacion	18 June 2018	20	Deerfield Beach, Florida, US	Four men indicted[27][28]	Shooting	Rapper and singer	[29]
Andrea Meyer	Nebelhexe	13 October 2021	52	Kongsberg, Norway	Espen Andersen Bråthen	Stabbing	Rock and electronic singer	[30]
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu	Sidhu Moose Wala	29 May 2022	28	Punjab, India	Unknown	Shooting	Rapper and singer	[31]
Yurii Kerpatenko	Yurii Kerpatenko	16 October 2022	46	Kherson Oblast, Ukraine	Russian soldiers	Shooting	Classical conductor, accordionist	[32]

See also

• List of murdered hip hop musicians
• List of deaths in rock and roll
• List of pop musicians who died of drug overdose
• 27 Club
• Curse of the ninth

References

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3. Pinetop Smith
4. "Alejandro García Caturla".
5. Moldenhauer, Hans (1961). The Death of Anton Webern: A Drama in Documents. New York: Philosophical Library. OCLC 512111.
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8. Kernfield, Barry Dean. New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Grove's Dictionaries. p. 544.
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