List of murdered musicians explained

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 25 February 1682 38 Genoa, Italy Unknown Stabbing Classical composer [1]
Jean-Marie Leclair 22 October 1764 67 Paris, France Unknown Stabbing Classical composer and violinist [2]
Pinetop Smith 15 March 1929 24 Chicago, Illinois, US Unknown Shooting Boogie-woogie pianist [3]
Alejandro García Caturla 12 November 1940 34 Havana, Cuba Unknown Unknown Classical composer [4]
Anton Webern 15 September 1945 61 Vienna, Austria Pfc. Raymond Norwood Bell Shooting Classical composer [5]
Sonny Boy Williamson 1 June 1948 34 Chicago, Illinois, US Unknown Shooting Blues singer [6]
Scrapper Blackwell 7 October 1962 59 Indianapolis, Indiana, US Unknown Shooting Blues guitarist, composer
Marc Blitzstein 22 January 1964 58 Martinique Three men Beating Classical/musical theatre composer [7]
Sam Cooke 11 December 1964 33 Los Angeles, US Bertha Franklin Shooting Soul singer-songwriter
Darrell BanksDarrell BanksFebruary 24, 197032Detroit, Michigan, USAaron BullockShootingSoul singer
Curtis OusleyKing Curtis 13 August 1971 37 New York City, US Juan Montanez Stabbing Jazz saxophonist [8]
Lee Morgan 19 February 1972 33 New York City, US Helen Morgan Shooting Jazz trumpeter
Víctor Jara 16 September 1973 40 Santiago, Chile Chilean military officers Shooting and torture Singer-songwriter
Stringbean 10 November 1973 58 Ridgetop, Tennessee, US John A. Brown and Marvin Douglas Brown Shooting Country banjo player [9]
Al Jackson Jr. 1 October 1975 39 Memphis, Tennessee, US Unknown Stabbing R&B, funk and soul drummer [10]
Eddie Jefferson 9 May 1979 60 Detroit, Michigan, US Unknown Shooting [11]
Jannie PoughtJannie PoughtSeptember 198034New JerseyUnknownStabbingR&B singer[12]
John Lennon 8 December 1980 40 New York City, US Rock and pop artist
Claude Vivier 7 March 1983 34 Paris, France Pascal Dolzan Stabbing Classical composer [13]
Felix Pappalardi 17 April 1983 43 New York City, US Gail Pappalardi Shooting Rock artist [14]
Hugh Mundell 14 October 1983 21 Kingston, Jamaica Ricardo Codrington Shooting Reggae singer
Walter Scott 27 December 1983 40 St. Peters, Missouri, US James H. Williams Sr. Shooting Rock and roll singer
Marvin Gaye 1 April 1984 44 Los Angeles, California, US Marvin Gay Sr.R&B singer
Lenny Breau 12 August 1984 43 Los Angeles, California, US Unknown Strangling Guitarist [15]
Carly Barrett 17 April 1987 36 Kingston, Jamaica Glenroy Carter and Junior Neil Shooting Reggae drummer
Peter Tosh 11 September 1987 42 Kingston, Jamaica Dennis Lobban and two other individuals Shooting and tortureReggae artist
Jaco Pastorius 21 September 1987 35 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US Luc Havan Jazz bassist
Amar Singh ChamkilaChamkila8 March 198827Mehsampur, Punjab, IndiaUnknownShootingPunjabi singer
Blaze Foley 1 February 1989 39 Austin, Texas, US Carey January Shooting Country, folk singer-songwriter [16]
King Tubby 6 February 1989 48 Kingston, Jamaica Unknown Shooting Reggae sound engineer [17]
Cornell Gunter 26 February 1990 53 Las Vegas, Nevada, US Unknown Shooting R&B singer
Andrzej Zaucha 10 October 1991 42 Kraków, Poland Yves Goulais Shooting R&B singer, saxophonist
Dave Rowbotham 8 November 1991 33 Manchester, England Unknown Bludgeoned by hammer Rock musician
Chalino Sanchez 16 May 1992 31 Culiacán, Mexico Unknown Shooting Narcocorrido singer [18]
Willie Irving Gaston Junior Heavy One 29 September 1992 24 Eaton Road Barry Farms Southeast DC Unknown Shooting [19]
Mia Zapata 7 July 1993 27 Seattle, Washington, US Jesus Mezquia Strangling Rock singer [20]
Don Myrick 30 July 199353 Los Angeles, California, US Police Officer Gary Barbaro Shooting Jazz saxophonist [21]
Euronymous 10 August 1993 25 Oslo, Norway Stabbing Black metal guitarist
Rhett Forrester 22 January 1994 37 Atlanta, Georgia, US Unknown Shooting Heavy metal musician [22]
Cheb Hasni 29 September 1994 26 Shooting Raï singer
Selena 31 March 1995 23 Corpus Christi, Texas, US Tejano singer
Tupac;
2Pac;
Makaveli 		13 September 1996 25 Las Vegas, Nevada, US Orlando Anderson (suspected) Rapper
Christopher WallaceThe Notorious B.I.G.;
Biggie Smalls;
Frank White 		9 March 1997 24 Los Angeles, California, US Wardell "Poochie" Fouse (suspected) Rapper
Lounès Matoub 25 June 1998 42 Aït Aissi, Tizi Ouzou, Algeria Shooting Kabyle music singer
Jaki Byard 11 February 1999 76 New York City, US Unknown Shooting Jazz pianist
Roger Troutman 25 April 1999 47 Dayton, Ohio, US Larry Troutman Shooting Funk musician
Dimebag Darrell 8 December 2004 38 Columbus, Ohio, US Nathan Gale ShootingHeavy metal guitarist
Bryan Harvey 1 January 2006 49 Richmond, Virginia, US Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Javon Gray Folk rock singer/guitarist
Valentin Elizalde 25 November 2006 27 Reynosa, Mexico Unknown Shooting Banda singer [23]
Winston Riley 19 January 2012 68 Kingston, Jamaica Unknown Shooting Rocksteady/reggae singer and producer
Natalia Strelle 30 August 2015 38 Manchester, England John Martin Head trauma, strangulation Classical pianist
Christina Grimmie 10 June 2016 22 Orlando, Florida, US Kevin James Loibl Shooting Pop singer
Amjad Sabri 22 June 2016 39 Karachi, Pakistan Shooting Qawwali singer [24]
XXXTentacion 18 June 2018 20 Deerfield Beach, Florida, US Four men indicted[25] [26] Rapper and singer [27]
Nebelhexe 13 October 2021 52 Kongsberg, Norway Espen Andersen Bråthen Rock and electronic singer [28]
Sidhu Moose Wala 29 May 2022 28 Punjab, India Unknown Rapper and singer [29]
Yurii KerpatenkoYurii Kerpatenko 16 October 2022 46 Kherson Oblast, Ukraine Russian soldiers Shooting Classical conductor, accordionist[30]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alessandro Stradella (1639–1682) . Gianturco . Carolyn . Hyperion Records . 17 October 2017.
  2. Sadler, Graham, Leclair, Jean-Marie, in Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, New York, Grove (Oxford University Press), 1997, II, pp. 1118–1119
  3. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/pinetop-smith-mn0000289045 Pinetop Smith
  4. Web site: Alejandro García Caturla .
  5. Book: Moldenhauer, Hans . 1961 . The Death of Anton Webern: A Drama in Documents . New York . Philosophical Library . 512111.
  6. Web site: Sonny Boy Williamson. Biography.com.
  7. News: The New York Times Book Review . 'Moonlight' and Marxism . July 16, 1989 . Don . Shewey.
  8. Kernfield, Barry Dean. New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Grove's Dictionaries. p. 544.
  9. Web site: Stringbean Akeman's killer free on parole. The Tennessean. 29 June 2017.
  10. News: Memphis sunset: The Mysterious death of Stax heartbeat Al Jackson, Jr. Andria. Lisle. 25 November 2015. 29 June 2017. The Guardian.
  11. News: Eddie Jefferson, 60, Jazz Lyricist, Slain After Leaving Detroit Club. The New York Times. 10 May 1979.
  12. Web site: Hickey . Andrew . 2019-11-25 . Episode 58: "Mr. Lee" by the Bobbettes . 2024-01-23 . A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs . en-US.
  13. Book: Gilmore, Bob . Claude Vivier. A Composer's Life . . 2014 . 978-1580464857.
  14. Web site: Top 10 Murdered Musicians You've Never Heard Of. Jacob. Katel. 14 September 2010. 29 June 2017.
  15. Forbes-Robert, Ron. (2006). "One Long Tune: the life and music of Lenny Breau". Denton, TX. University of North Texas Press. .
  16. Web site: Blaze Foley: Killing of a Songwriter. 7 October 2016. 15 December 2020.
  17. Thompson, Dave (2002) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books,, pp. 138–141
  18. Web site: El Valiente: Chalino Sánchez - Al Otro Lado. POV. 17 January 2006. PBS. 29 June 2017.
  19. Web site: SLAIN GO-GO DRUMMER EULOGIZED. Avis Thomas-Lester. 16 October 1992. Washington Post. 14 August 2024.
  20. Tizon, Alex (23 August 1998). "Who Murdered Mia Zapata? No Arrests, Few Clues 5 Years After Slaying". Seattle Times.
  21. News: Questions Cloud Life, Death of Saxophonist. Mathis. Chazanov. The Los Angeles Times. 15 August 1993. 29 June 2017.
  22. Web site: Top 10 Murdered Musicians You've Never Heard Of. Jacob. Katel. 14 September 2010. 29 June 2017.
  23. Web site: Mexico: Musician killed for his drug related lyrics. 18 March 2013. 29 June 2017.
  24. Web site: Famed qawwal Amjad Sabri gunned down in Karachi. Ali. Imtiaz. Dawn.com. 22 June 2016. 23 June 2016.
  25. Web site: Four men indicted in murder of Florida rapper XXXTentacion . Reuters . 31 July 2018 . 19 July 2018.
  26. Web site: Neal . David J. . Teproff . Carli . Rapper XXXTentacion had $50,000. Four men have been indicted for killing him to get it. . Miami Herald . 31 July 2018 . 19 July 2018.
  27. Web site: Rapper XXXTentacion killed in Deerfield Beach shooting. Margol. Andrea Torres, Amanda Batchelor, Ian. local10.com. 19 June 2018. en-US. 19 June 2018.
  28. Web site: Metal Musician Andrea Meyer Dies in Bow-and-Arrow Attack: What We Know . Meyer . Andrea . popculture . 21 November 2021.
  29. Web site: Sidhu Moose Wala: Murder of popular Indian singer sparks anger . Moose Wala . Sidhu . BBC . 22 May 2022.
  30. Web site: 2022-10-16 . Russian troops kill Ukrainian musician for refusing role in Kherson concert . 2022-12-19 . the Guardian . en.

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