(shot dead) May 12 – John LaPorta, 84, Jazz clarinetist, composer and educator May 17 Gunnar Graps, 52, Estonian singer (Magnetic Band and Gunnar Graps Group) Elvin Jones, 76, Jazz Drummer, notably with the John Coltrane Quartet of the 1960s May 19 – Arnold Moore, 90, blues artist May 23 – Gundars Mauševics, 29, Latvian guitarist of Brainstorm May 31 – Robert Quine, 61, guitarist June 2 – Billboard, 25, rapper, The Game's best friend June 4 – Irene Manning, 91, US actress, singer and dancer June 6 – Iona Brown, 63, conductor and violinist June 7 – Quorthon, 38, Swedish multi-instrumentalist, founder and songwriter of Bathory June 10 – Ray Charles, 73, US singer and pianist June 15 – James F. Arnold, 72, first tenor with the Four Lads June 17 – Jackie Paris, 77, US jazz singer June 27 – Sis Cunningham, 95, folk musician July–August July 6 – Syreeta Wright, 57, singer (congestive heart failure, a side effect of cancer treatment) July 13 Arthur Kane, 55, bassist (New York Dolls) Carlos Kleiber, 74, conductor July 21 – Jerry Goldsmith, 75, US composer, Academy Award winner July 22 Illinois Jacquet, 81, US jazz saxophonist Sacha Distel, 71, French singer August 2 – Don Tosti, 81, American composer August 6 Rick James, 56, US funk singer Argentino Ledesma, 75, Argentinian singer Tony Mottola, 86, US Guitarist August 9 – David Raksin, 92, US composer August 15 – William Herbert York, 85, bassist for Drifting Cowboys August 17 – Bernard Odum, 72, bass player for James Brown August 18 – Elmer Bernstein, 82, US composer August 20 – María Antonieta Pons, 82, Cuban Rumbera August 26 – Laura Branigan, 52, US singer (brain aneurysm) August 31 – Carl Wayne, 61, vocalist (The Move) September–October September 2 Michael Connor, 54, American country rock keyboardist (Pure Prairie League) Billy Davis September 11 – Juraj Beneš, 64, Slovak composer September 12 John Buller, 77, British composer Kenny Buttrey, 59, Nashville session drummer Fred Ebb, 72, US lyricist September 15 – Johnny Ramone, 55, US guitarist and founding member of The Ramones (prostate cancer) September 16 – Izora Armstead, 62, member of The Weather Girls September 29 – Heinz Wallberg, 81, German conductor September 30 – Jacques Levy, 69, songwriter and theatre director October 1 – Bruce Palmer, 58, bassist of Buffalo Springfield October 7 – Miki Matsubara, 44, Japanese composer and singer October