1952 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1952.

Events

• February 26 – Popular American singer Jo Stafford marries bandleader/arranger Paul Weston.
• March 21 – First reported rock and roll riot breaks out at Alan Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland, Ohio. Teenage excitement is blamed for the frenzy.
• March 27 – Sun Records begins operations in Memphis, Tennessee.
• August 29 – David Tudor gives the premiere of John Cage's 4′33″, during which the performer does not play, in Woodstock, New York.
• September – Bill Haley and His Saddlemen change their image to become Bill Haley & His Comets.
• October 7 – First edition of Bob Horn's Bandstand is broadcast as a local show from station WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is later renamed American Bandstand and syndicated.
• November 14 – First UK Singles Chart published by the New Musical Express, with Al Martino's "Here in My Heart" as number one.
• Jazz singer Ernesto Bonino moves from Italy to the United States.
• Accordionist John Serry, Sr. first performs in Broadway theatre.
• Popular American singer Joni James begins her recording career at MGM.

Publications

• Pierre Schaeffer – A la recherche d'une musique concrète (The Search for a Concrete Music), an explanation of his experimental approach to composing.

Musical groups formed

• 76th Army Band
• 338th Army Band (reactivated)
• The Duke's Men of Yale (a cappella singing group)

Albums released

• Anthology of American Folk Music – Various Artists
• As You Desire Me – Jo Stafford
• Billie Holiday Sings – Billie Holiday
• Bird and Diz – Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
• Christmas Day in the Morning – Burl Ives
• Christmas with Eddie Fisher – Eddie Fisher
• Eddie Fisher Sings – Eddie Fisher
• Favorite Spirituals – The Ames Brothers
• Harmony Encores – The Chordettes
• Home on the Range – The Ames Brothers
• Johnnie Ray – Johnnie Ray
• I'm in the Mood for Love – Eddie Fisher
• Mr. Rhythm Sings – Frankie Laine
• Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington – Oscar Peterson
• Penthouse Serenade – Nat King Cole
• Song Favorites By Frankie Laine – Frankie Laine

US No. 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1952.

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1952.^[1]

Top hits on record

• "All of Me" – Johnnie Ray
• "Anytime" – Eddie Fisher
• "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" – Vera Lynn
• "Be My Life's Companion" – The Mills Brothers
• "Botch-A-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina)" – Rosemary Clooney
• "Christmas Roses" – Frankie Laine & Jo Stafford
• "Comes A-Long A-Love" – Kay Starr
• "Day of Jubilo" – Guy Mitchell
• "Delicado" – Percy Faith & his Orchestra
• "Faith Can Move Mountains" – Nat King Cole
• "The Glow-Worm" – The Mills Brothers
• "A Guy Is a Guy" – Doris Day
• "Half As Much" – Rosemary Clooney
• "Heart and Soul" – The Four Aces featuring Al Alberts
• "Here in My Heart" – Al Martino
• "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)" – Frankie Laine
• "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me" – Karen Chandler
• "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" – Jimmy Boyd
• "I Went To Your Wedding" – Patti Page
• "I'll Walk Alone" – Don Cornell
• "I'm Confessin'" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "I'm Just a Poor Bachelor" – Frankie Laine
• "I'm Yours" – Eddie Fisher
• "Kiss Of Fire" – Georgia Gibbs
• "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" – Louis Armstrong
• "Lady of Spain" – Eddie Fisher
• "Lover" – Peggy Lee
• "Maybe" – Perry Como & Eddie Fisher
• "My Favorite Song" – Georgia Gibbs
• "My Song" – Johnny Ace
• "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" – Guy Mitchell
• "Please, Mr. Sun" – Johnnie Ray & The Four Lads
• "Ramblin' Man" – Frankie Laine
• "Rock of Gibraltar" – Frankie Laine
• "Settin' the Woods on Fire" – Frankie Laine & Jo Stafford
• "A Sinner Am I" – Johnnie Ray
• "Slow Poke" – Arthur Godfrey
• "So Madly in Love" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Somewhere Along The Way" – Nat King Cole
• "Sugarbush" – Doris Day & Frankie Laine
• "Tell Me Why" – Eddie Fisher
• "Temptation" – Mario Lanza
• "Tenderly" – Rosemary Clooney
• "Tiger Rag" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "Till I Waltz Again With You" – Teresa Brewer
• "Tonight You Belong to Me" – Frankie Laine
• "Unforgettable" – Nat King Cole
• "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" – Johnnie Ray
• "Wheel of Fortune" – Kay Starr
• "When I Fall in Love" – Doris Day
• "When You're in Love" – Frankie Laine
• "Why Don't You Believe Me" – Joni James
• "Winter Wonderland" – Perry Como
• "Wish You Were Here" – Eddie Fisher
• "You Belong to Me" – Jo Stafford
• "You'll Never Be Mine" – Guy Mitchell

Published popular music

• "Blue Tango"   w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
• "Comes A-Long A-Love"   w.m. Al Sherman
• "Delicado"   w. Jack Lawrence m. Waldyr Azevedo
• "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?"   w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Don't Laugh at Me ('Cause I'm a Fool)"   w.m. Norman Wisdom & June Tremayne
• "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes"   w.m. Barbara Trammel, Cactus Pryor & Slim Whitman
• "Faith Can Move Mountains"   w. Ben Raleigh m. Guy Wood
• "Feet Up"   w.m. Bob Merrill
• "A Fool Such As I"   w.m. Bill Trader
• "Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now"   w.m. Milton Kellem
• "A Guy Is A Guy"   w.m. Oscar Brand
• "Hambone"   w.m. Leon Washington & Red Saunders
• "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean"   w.m. Charles Singleton & J. H. Wallace
• "Here in My Heart"   w.m. Pat Genaro, Lou Levinson & Bill Borrelli
• "High Noon"   w. Ned Washington m. Dimitri Tiomkin
• "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo"   w. Helen Deutsch m. Bronislau Kaper
• "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me"   w.m. Harry Noble
• "Hound Dog"   w.m. Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
• "I Know a Place" w. Sammy Cahn m. Vernon Duke Introduced by Doris Day & Ray Bolger in the film April in Paris
• "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"   w.m. Tommie Connor
• "I Went To Your Wedding"   w.m. Jessie Mae Robinson
• "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive"   w.m. Hank Williams & Fred Rose
• "I'm Hans Christian Andersen"   w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Inchworm"   w.m. Frank Loesser
• "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"   w.m. J. D. Miller
• "It's In The Book"   w.m. Johnny Standley & Art Thorsen
• "Jambalaya"   w.m. Hank Williams
• "Kaw-Liga"   w.m. Hank Williams & Fred Rose
• "Keep It A Secret"   w.m. Jessie Mae Robinson
• "The King's New Clothes"   w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Lawdy Miss Clawdy"   w.m. Lloyd Price
• "Lean Baby"   w. Roy Alfred m. Billy May
• "Lullaby of Birdland"   w. B. Y. Forster (pseudonym for George David Weiss) m. George Shearing
• "Luna Rossa"   w. (Eng) Kermit Goell (Ital) V. de Crescenzo m. A. Vian
• "Mister Taptoe"   w.m. Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr & Frank Miller
• "Never Smile at a Crocodile"   F. Churchill, J. Lawrence
• "Oh Happy Day"   w.m. Donald Howard Koplow & Nancy Binns Reed
• "The Ol' Spring Fever" w. Leo Robin m. Harry Warren from the film Just For You
• "One Mint Julep"   w.m. Rudy Toombs
• "Outside of Heaven" w. Sammy Gallop m. Chester Conn
• "Petite Fleur"   m. Sidney Bechet
• "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania"   w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Pretend"   w.m. Lew Douglas, Cliff Parman & Frank Levere
• "Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susie"   Kay Twomey, Fred Wise & Ben Weisman
• "Raminay (The New Orleans Chimney Sweep)" w.m. J. Lawrence, Sammy Fain
• "She Wears Red Feathers"   w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Sugar Bush"   w.m. Josef Marais
• "Take These Chains from My Heart"   w.m. Fred Rose & Hy Heath
• "Takes Two to Tango"   w.m. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning
• "That's All"   w. Alan Brandt m. Bob Haymes
• "That's Entertainment!"   w. Howard Dietz m. Arthur Schwartz
• "Till I Waltz Again With You   w.m. Sidney Prosen
• "The Ugly Duckling"   w.m. Frank Loesser
• "To Know You (Is to Love You)"   w. Allan Roberts m. Robert Allen
• "Walkin' To Missouri"   w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Wheel Of Fortune"   w.m. Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
• "When I Fall in Love"   w. Edward Heyman m. Victor Young
• "Why Don't You Believe Me?"   w.m. Lew Douglas, King Laney & Roy Rodde
• "Wish You Were Here"   w.m. Harold Rome
• "You Belong to Me"   w.m. Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart & Chilton Price
• "Your Cheatin' Heart"   w.m. Hank Williams
• "Zing A Little Zong"   w. Leo Robin m. Harry Warren

Top R&B and Country hits on record

• "5-10-15 Hours" – Ruth Brown
• "Daddy Daddy" – Ruth Brown
• "Hound Dog" – Big Mama Thornton
• "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" – Hank Williams
• "Juke" – Little Walter
• "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" – Lloyd Price
• "Midnight Special" – The Weavers
• "Night Train" – Jimmy Forrest
• "Wimoweh" – The Weavers
• "Worry, Worry, Worry" – Joe Houston
• "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" – Kitty Wells

Classical music

Premieres

Composer	Composition	Date	Location	Performers
Arnold, Malcolm	English Dances, set 2, Op. 33	1952-08-05	London (Proms)	BBC Symphony – Sargent[2]
Beck, Conrad	Hymne	1952-10-11	Donaueschingen (Musiktage)	SWF Symphony – Rosbaud[3]
Berio, Luciano	Due pezzi for violin and piano	1952–?-?	Lenox, MA (Tanglewood MF)	Lorin Maazel (violin), Seymour Lipkin (piano)[4]
Cage, John	4′33″	1952-08-29	Woodstock, NY	Tudor[5]
Chávez, Carlos	Violin Concerto	1952-02-29	Mexico City	Viviane Bertolami (violin), OSN – Chávez[6]
Michel Ciry	[chamber-music work]	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	[faculty and students of the Ferienkurse][7]
Cowell, Henry	Symphony No. 7, for chamber orchestra	1952-11-25	Baltimore	Baltimore Little Orchestra – Stewart[8]
Dallapiccola, Luigi	Tartiniana	1952-03-04	Bern[9]
dall'Oglio, Renzo	Espressioni (5) for orchestra	1952-07-20	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Landestheaterorchester Darmstadt – Maderna[7]
Engelmann, Hans Ulrich	Orchester-Phantasie	1952-07-20	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Landestheaterorchester Darmstadt – Maderna[7]
Wolfgang Fortner	Isaacs Opferung, oratory scene	1952-10-12	Donaueschingen (Musiktage)	Sudock, Krebs, Rehfuss / SWF Symphony – Rosbaud[10][11]
Fricker, Peter Racine	Concerto for Cor Anglais and Orchestra	1952-07-20	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Hartung / Landestheaterorchester Darmstadt – Maderna[7]
Ginastera, Alberto	Piano Sonata No. 1	1952-11-29	Pittsburgh (ICMF)	Harris[12]
Goeyvaerts, Karel	Violin Concerto No. 2	1952-07-20	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Gertler / Landestheaterorchester Darmstadt – Maderna[7]
Hindemith, Paul	Die Harmonie der Welt Symphony	1952-01-25	Basel	Basel Chamber Orchestra – Sacher[13]
Hummel, Bertold	Missa brevis 1951	1952-10-12	Donaueschingen (Musiktage)	Domchor Freiburg – Stemmer[11]
Husa, Karel	[chamber-music work]	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	[faculty and students of the Ferienkurse][7]
Jolivet, André	Harp Concerto	1952-10-12	Donaueschingen (Musiktage)	Laskine / SWF Symphony – Rosbaud[11][14]
Klebe, Giselher	Nocturnes (2) for orchestra	1952-07-20	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Landestheaterorchester Darmstadt – Maderna[7]
Kubik, Gail	Symphony Concertante [1952 Pulitzer][15]	1952-01-07	New York City	The Little Orchestra – Scherman[16]
Lokshin, Aleksandr	Hungarian Fantasy for violin and orchestra	1952–?-?	Moscow	Sitkovetsky / USSR Radio Symphony – Sanderling[17]
Maderna, Bruno	Musica su due dimensioni for flute, cymbals and tape	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Gazzelloni, Grano[7][18][19]
Malipiero, G. Francesco	Sinfonia dello Zodiaco	1952-01-23	Lausanne	Orchestre de la Suisse Romande – Sanzogno[20]
Martin, Frank	Violin Concerto	1952-01-24	Basel	Schneeberger / Basel Chamber Orchestra – Sacher[21]
Martinů, Bohuslav	Piano Trio No. 3	1952-02-25	New York City	Mannes Trio[22]
Martinů, Bohuslav	Serenade for Two Clarinets and String Trio	1952-01-04	New York City	McGinnis, Cerminara, J. Fuchs, L. Fuchs, Greenhouse[22]
Martinů, Bohuslav	Stowe Pastorals	1952-05-07	Basel	Trapp Family Ensemble[22]
Mennin, Peter	String Quartet No. 2	1952-02-24	New York City	Juilliard Quartet[23]
Messiaen, Olivier	Le merle noir	1952-06-?	Paris	Contestants of the Conservatory's flute competition + Lee[24]
Montsalvatge, Xavier	Cuarteto indiano	1952-05-04	Madrid	National Chamber Music Association
Nono, Luigi	España en el corazón	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Dumaine, Hildebrandt / Ferienkurse, Landestheater Orchestra – Maderna1[7][25]
Panufnik, Andrzej	Heroic Overture (2nd version)	1952-05-16	Warsaw	Warsaw Philharmonic – Rowicki [26]
Pettersson, Allan	Concerto for Strings No. 1	1952-04-06	Stockholm	Swedish Radio Symphony – Mann[27]
Prokofiev, Sergei	Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra	1952-02-18	Moscow	Rostropovich / Moscow Youth Orchestra – Richter[28]
Prokofiev, Sergei	Symphony No. 7	1952-10-11	Moscow	USSR Radio Symphony – Samosud
Rubbra, Edmund	String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat, Op. 73	1952-05-11[29]	London (Victoria and Albert Museum)	Griller Quartet[30]
Shostakovich, Dmitri	Preludes and Fugues (24) for piano	1952-12-23	Leningrad	Nikolayeva[31]
Stockhausen, Karlheinz	Kreuzspiel	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Grano, Wildgans, Sandt, Rosmann, Maderna, Trumpfheller, Geppert – Stockhausen[32]
Stockhausen, Karlheinz	Spiel	1952-10-11	Donaueschingen (Musiktage)2	SWF Radio Symphony – Rosbaud[33]
Stravinsky, Igor	Cantata	1952-11-11	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Symphony Society – Igor Stravinsky[34]
Togni, Camillo	Omaggio a Bach for two pianos	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Gerd Kämper, Togni[35]
Wildberger, Jacques	Quartet for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello	1952-07-21	Darmstadt (Ferienkurse)	Mertens, Rosokowsky, Stier, Huth[7][35]
Zimmermann, Bernd Alois	Oboe Concerto	1952-10-11	Donaueschingen (Musiktage)	Schneider / SWF Symphony – Rosbaud[36]

• ¹ The ensemble Bruno Maderna conducted comprised both faculty and students of the Ferienkurse and members of the Landestheater Orchestra Darmstadt.
• ² Only the first half of Spiel was performed at Donaueschingen in 1952. The complete score was only first performed in a radio recording made in July 1973 with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden, conducted by the composer. The first public performance of the complete composition was given by the Berlin Philharmonic on 14 September 1975, also under the composer's baton.^[37]

Compositions

• Jean Barraqué
  • Piano Sonata
• John Cage
  • 4′33″
• Carlos Chávez
  • Sinfonía romántica (Symphony No. 4)
• George Crumb
  • Three Pastoral Pieces
    String Trio
• Alberto Ginastera
  • Piano Sonata No. 1
• Carlos Guastavino
  • Suite argentina, ballet
• Dmitry Kabalevsky
  • Piano Concerto No. 3
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold
  • Symphony
• Otto Luening
  • Fantasy in Space for flute and tape
  • Invention in Twelve Notes for flute and tape
  • Low Speed for flute and tape
• Frank Martin
  • Harpsichord Concerto
• Bohuslav Martinů
  • Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
• Olivier Messiaen
  • Le merle noir
• Wilhelm Peterson-Berger
  • Canzone for Violin and Piano
• Prokofiev, Sergei
  • Symphony No. 7
• Joaquín Rodrigo
  • Concierto Serenata for Harp and Orchestra
• Edmund Rubbra
  • Viola Concerto
• Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet No. 5
• Karlheinz Stockhausen
  • Klavierstücke I–IV
  • Punkte [withdrawn, revised in 1962]
  • Schlagquartett
  • Spiel
• Igor Stravinsky
  • Cantata
• Vaughan Williams, Ralph
  • Sinfonia antartica (Symphony No. 7)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – Symphony No. 9

Opera

• Franco Alfano – Sakùntala (revision of his 1921 opera La leggenda di Sakùntala)
• Leonard Bernstein – Trouble in Tahiti
• Raymond Chevreuille – Atta Troll
• Mozart Camargo Guarnieri – Pedro Malazarte (comic opera in one act, libretto by Mario de Andrade, premiered in May at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro)

Musical theatre

• Bet Your Life London production opened at the Hippodrome on February 18 and ran for 362 performances
• Curtain Going Up Broadway production
• The Globe Revue London revue opened on July 10 at the Globe Theatre
• Love From Judy London production opened at the Saville Theatre on September 25 and ran for 594 performances
• New Faces of 1952 Broadway production
• Pal Joey (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart) – Broadway revival of original 1940 production
• Ring Out the Bells London revue opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre on November 12
• Three Wishes for Jamie Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 21 and moved to the Plymouth Theatre on May 27 for a total run of 92 performances
• Two's Company Broadway production
• Wish You Were Here Broadway production

Musical films

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby On the Road to Bali

• Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick starring Alan Young, Dinah Shore, Robert Merrill and Adele Jergens. Directed by Claude Binyon.
• Affair in Trinidad starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford
• April in Paris starring Doris Day and Ray Bolger
• Because You're Mine starring Mario Lanza and Doretta Morrow
• Bloodhounds of Broadway starring Mitzi Gaynor, Scott Brady and Mitzi Green
• Everything I Have Is Yours starring Marge Champion, Gower Champion and Monica Lewis
• Hans Christian Andersen starring Danny Kaye and Jane Wyman
• Just for You starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman
• The Las Vegas Story starring Jane Russell, Victor Mature and Hoagy Carmichael
• Lovely to Look At starring Kathryn Grayson, Red Skelton, Howard Keel, Marge Champion, Gower Champion and Ann Miller
• Meet Danny Wilson starring Frank Sinatra and Shelley Winters
• The Merry Widow starring Lana Turner, Fernando Lamas and Una Merkel
• Road to Bali starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour
• She's Working Her Way Through College starring Virginia Mayo and Ronald Reagan
• Singin' in the Rain starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds
• Skirts Ahoy! starring Esther Williams, Joan Evans, Vivian Blaine and Keefe Brasselle, and featuring Billy Eckstine, The DeMarco Sisters, Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van.
• Son of Paleface starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers and Trigger
• Where's Charley? starring Ray Bolger and Allyn Ann McLerie
• With A Song In My Heart starring Susan Hayward and Rory Calhoun

Births

• January 15 – Melvyn Gale (Electric Light Orchestra)
• January 17 – Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese musician & composer
• January 20
  • Paul Stanley (Kiss)
  • Ian Hill (Judas Priest)
• January 21 – Cyril and Libbye Hellier, American operatic sopranos
• January 22 – Teddy Gentry (Alabama)
• January 25 – Timothy White, American rock journalist (died 2002)
• January 29 – Tommy Ramone (The Ramones)
• January 30 – Steve Bartek (Oingo Boingo)
• February 4 – Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie)
• February 12 – Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers)
• February 13 – Edward John Gagliardi (Foreigner)
• February 18 – Juice Newton, pop and country singer, songwriter and guitarist
• February 20 – Halvor Haug, Norwegian composer
• February 21 – Jean-Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers)
• February 23 – Brad Whitford (Aerosmith)
• March 11 – Vince Giordano, bass saxophonist and band leader for the Nighthawks Orchestra
• March 15 – Howard Devoto (Buzzcocks, Magazine, Luxuria, ShelleyDevoto)
• March 22 – Jay Dee Daugherty, Patti Smith Group
• April 2 – Leon Wilkeson (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• April 4 – Gary Moore, blues guitarist and singer (died 2011)
• April 13 – Rosa Passos, Brazilian Bossa Nova singer
• May 11 – Renaud, composer
• May 14 – David Byrne, singer-songwriter (Talking Heads)
• May 18 – George Strait, country singer, actor, and music producer
• May 19 – Barbara Joyce Lomas (B.T. Express)
• June 5 – Nicko McBrain (Iron Maiden, Trust etc]]
• June 11 – Donnie Van Zant (38 Special)
• June 12 – Junior Brown, country guitarist and singer
• June 16 – Gino Vannelli, Canadian singer, songwriter, musician and composer
• June 25 – Tim Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter
• July 1
  • Dan Aykroyd, actor (The Blues Brothers)
  • Timothy J. Tobias, American pianist and composer (d. 2006)
• July 2 – Johnny Colla (Huey Lewis & The News)
• July 3 – Laura Branigan American singer (Gloria) and actress (d. 2004)
• July 12 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American bass player (Iron Butterfly) (d. 1995)
• July 14 – Bob Casale, American guitarist, keyboard player, and producer (Devo) (d. 2014)
• July 15 – David Pack, frontman, vocalist and guitarist with the rock group Ambrosia
• July 16 – Stewart Copeland, drummer (The Police)
• July 17
  • Phoebe Snow, singer-songwriter (died 2011)
  • Nicolette Larson, singer (died 1997)
• July 19 – Allen Collins, American guitarist and songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rossington-Collins Band, and Allen Collins Band) (d. 1990)
• July 22
  • John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (Rush) (d. 2008)
  • Janis Siegel, American singer (The Manhattan Transfer)
• July 28 – Glenn A. Baker, Australian music journalist
• August 4 – Moya Brennan (Clannad)
• August 6 – Pat MacDonald (Timbuk 3)
• August 16 – Gianna Rolandi, American soprano
• August 20 – John Hiatt, guitarist, pianist and singer
• August 21 – Joe Strummer, singer and songwriter (The Clash) (d. 2002)
• August 26 – Billy Rush, Asbury Jukes
• August 27 – Laurie Wisefield, guitarist for Wishbone Ash
• September 4 – Martin Chambers, The Pretenders
• September 9 – Dave Stewart, Eurythmics
• September 12
  • Neil Peart, Rush
  • Gerry Beckley, America
• September 13 – Randy Jones, Village People
• September 18 – Dee Dee Ramone, bassist (The Ramones) (d. 2002)
• September 19 – Nile Rodgers, The Honeydrippers
• September 30 – John Lombardo, American musician (10,000 Maniacs, John & Mary)
• October 21 – Miroslav Žbirka, Slovak singer-songwriter
• November 2
  • Maxine Nightingale, singer
  • Alan Winstanley, producer
• November 11 – Paul Cowsill (The Cowsills)
• November 14 – Johnny A., guitarist and songwriter
• November 20 – Semyon Bychkov, conductor
• November 27 – Bappi Lahiri, Indian film composer
• December 3 – Don Barnes (38 Special)
• December 23 – Hans Abrahamsen, Danish composer
• December 27 – David Knopfler (Dire Straits)

Deaths

• January 9 – Midge Williams, singer
• January 14 – Artur Kapp, Estonian composer (b. 1878)
• January 16 – René Voisin, trumpeter
• January 20 – Arthur Farwell, composer and conductor
• February 13 – Alfred Einstein, musicologist
• March 17 – Percy Wenrich, ragtime composer
• March 22 – Uncle Dave Macon, musician
• April 23 – Elisabeth Schumann, operatic soprano
• May 23 – Georg Schumann, German composer (b. 1866)
• May 15 – Italo Montemezzi, composer
• June 9 – Adolf Busch, violinist and composer
• June 13 – Emma Eames, operatic soprano
• June 14 – John Kirby, jazz musician
• June 25 – Luke Jordan, blues musician
• July 2 – Henriëtte Hilda Bosmans, Dutch composer and pianist (b. 1895)
• July 10 – Rued Langgaard, Danish composer and organist (b. 1893)
• September 6 – Gertrude Lawrence, English actress, singer, dancer
• September 16 – Vesta Tilley, music hall entertainer
• September 18 – Frances Alda, operatic soprano
• September 19 – Nat Ayer, composer
• October 25 – Sergei Bortkiewicz, pianist and composer
• October 26 – Hattie McDaniel
• November 1 – Dixie Lee, singer, dancer and actress, wife of Bing Crosby
• November 4 – Max Adler, violinist
• November 17 – Charles Penrose, music hall performer
• December 26 – Paul Breisach, conductor
• December 28 – Fletcher Henderson, jazz musician
• December 30
  • Willie Brown, blues musician
  • Nakayama Shimpei, songwriter
• date unknown
  • Tryphosa Bates-Batcheller, singer
  • Georgette Harvey, actress and singer

References