Deaths
- January 2 – Zac Foley (33), bassist of EMF (drug overdose)
- January 3 – Juan García Esquivel (83) Mexican band leader, pianist and composer
- January 7 – Jon Lee (33), Feeder drummer (suicide)
- January 20 – Ivan Karabyts (57), Ukrainian conductor and composer
- January 21 – Peggy Lee (81), jazz singer and songwriter
- January 22
- Peter Bardens, (56), keyboardist of Camel
- Sheldon Allman, (77)
- February 1 – Hildegard Knef (76), actress, singer, writer
- February 10 – Dave Van Ronk (65)
- February 13 – Waylon Jennings (64), country musician
- February 14 – Günter Wand (90), conductor
- February 24 – Leo Ornstein (108), composer
- March 1 – Doreen Waddell, singer who had worked with Soul II Soul and The KLF
- March 13 – Marc Moreland (44), guitarist (Wall of Voodoo, The Skulls (U.S. band)|The Skulls]]) (liver failure)
- March 19 – John Patton (66), jazz and soul organist
- March 23 – Eileen Farrell (82), operatic soprano
- March 24 – Dorothy DeLay (84), Juilliard School violin teacher of Itzhak Perlman and Midori
- March 26 – Randy Castillo (51), drummer for Ozzy Osbourne & Mötley Crüe
- March 27 – Dudley Moore (66), English composer, pianist and actor
- April 5 – Layne Staley (34), lead vocalist of Alice in Chains and Mad Season
- April 13 – Alex Baroni (35), singer
- April 15 – Ram Singh Thakur (87), Indian freedom fighter, musician and composer
- April 17 – Tak Shindo (79), musician, composer and arranger
- April 25 – Lisa Lopes (30), singer (car accident)
- April 27 – Hillous Butrum (74), country musician
- May 3 – Evgeny Svetlanov (73), composer and conductor
- May 6 – Otis Blackwell (71), songwriter and pianist
- May 7 – Xavier Montsalvatge (90), composer
- May 9 – Leon Stein (91), composer, conductor and musicologist (born September 18, 1910)
- June 5 – Dee Dee Ramone (50), of The Ramones (heroin overdose)
- June 6 – Robbin Crosby (42), guitarist (Ratt)
- June 13 – Ralph Shapey (81), American composer and conductor
- June 15 – Big Mello (33), rapper (car accident)
- June 27 – John Entwistle (57), bassist of The Who (heart attack)
- June 29 – Rosemary Clooney (74), US singer and actress
- July 2
- Ray Brown (75), jazz bassist
- Earle Brown (75), composer
- July 11 – Rosco Gordon (74), blues singer and songwriter
- July 19 – Alan Lomax (87), American folklorist, ethnomusicologist and musician
- July 21 – Gus Dudgeon (59), English music producer
- August 2
- Joe Allison (77), songwriter
- Magda László, operatic soprano
- August 9 – Bertold Hummel (76), German composer
- August 10 – Michael Houser (40), guitarist (Widespread Panic) (pancreatic cancer)
- August 14 – Dave Williams (30), vocalist of Drowning Pool
- August 31 – Lionel Hampton (94), vibraphone virtuoso
- September 7 – Erma Franklin (64), gospel singer
- September 20 – Joan Littlewood (87), impresario
- September 24 – Tim Rose, singer-songwriter
- September 29 – Mickey Newbury (62), singer, songwriter
- October 3 – Darryl DeLoach (55), guitarist (Iron Butterfly)
- October 17 – Derek Bell (66), harpist (The Chieftains)
- October 24 – Adolph Green (87), lyricist
- October 25 – Richard Harris (72), actor and singer
- October 27 – Tom Dowd (77), recording engineer and producer
- October 30 – Jam-Master Jay (37), member of Run-D.M.C.
- November 3 – Lonnie Donegan (71), skiffle musician
- November 5 – Billy Guy (66), singer (The Coasters)
- November 21 – Hadda Brooks (86), U.S. jazz singer, pianist and composer
- November 28 – Dave "Snaker" Ray (59), blues singer and guitarist
- December 9 – Mary Hansen (36), member of Stereolab (road accident)
- December 13 – Zal Yanovsky (57), rock singer and guitarist (The Lovin' Spoonful)
- December 22 – Joe Strummer (50), singer and guitarist of The Clash
- December 31 – Kevin MacMichael (51), Canadian guitarist of British band Cutting Crew
Read more about this topic: 2002 In Music
Famous quotes containing the word deaths:
“I sang of death but had I known
The many deaths one must have died
Before he came to meet his own!”
—Robert Frost (18741963)
“This is the 184th Demonstration.
...
What we do is not beautiful
hurts no one makes no one desperate
we do not break the panes of safety glass
stretching between people on the street
and the deaths they hire.”
—Marge Piercy (b. 1936)
“Death is too much for men to bear, whereas women, who are practiced in bearing the deaths of men before their own and who are also practiced in bearing life, take death almost in stride. They go to meet deaththat is, they attempt suicidetwice as often as men, though men are more successful because they use surer weapons, like guns.”
—Roger Rosenblatt (b. 1940)