as Valfar, lead singer and founder of Norwegian black/folk metal band Windir (died of hypothermia in a blizzard) January 16 – John Siomos, 56, drummer January 17 Czeslaw Niemen, 65, Polish rock singer Tom Rowe, 53, musician January 22 Billy May, 87, US big band & pop music arranger Ann Miller, 80, actress, singer and dancer January 30 – Julius Dixson, 90, songwriter and record company executive February 3 – Cornelius Bumpus, 58, musician (The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan) February 6 – Jørgen Jersild, 90, Danish composer and music educator February 8 – Cem Karaca, 58, Turkish singer and composer February 16 – Doris Troy, 67, R&B singer February 21 Les Gray, 57, English singer (Mud) Bart Howard, 88, composer and pianist February 23 Don Cornell, 84, US singer Alvino Rey, 95, US bandleader and guitarist February 24 – A.C. Reed, 77, blues saxophonist March–April March 4 – John McGeoch, 48, British guitarist with Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees and PiL March 6 – Peggy DeCastro, 82, US singer born in the Dominican Republic, eldest of the DeCastro Sisters March 9 – Rust Epique, 36, guitarist (Crazy Town) March 10 – Dave Schulthise, 47, punk bassist (The Dead Milkmen) March 11 – Edmund Sylvers, 47, lead singer of The Sylvers March 13 – Vilayat Khan, 75, sitar player March 15 – Eva Likova, 84, operatic soprano March 16 – Vilém Tauský, 93, Czech conductor and composer March 18 Vytas Brenner, 57, musician, keyboardist and composer Erna Spoorenberg, 78, Dutch operatic soprano March 21 – Johnny Bristol, 65, singer, songwriter and record producer March 26 – Jan Berry, 62, US singer of Jan and Dean March 30 – Timi Yuro, 63, soul and R&B singer and songwriter April 1 – Paul Atkinson, 58, guitarist for The Zombies April 3 – Gabriella Ferri, 62, Italian singer April 6 – Niki Sullivan, 66, guitarist for The Crickets April 9 – Harry Babbitt, 90, US singer with Kay Kyser & his Orchestra April 10 – Jacek Kaczmarski, 47, Polish poet and singer, the bard of Solidarity April 15 Ray Condo, 53, Canadian rockabilly musician Hans Gmür, 77, Swiss theatre author, director, composer and producer May–June May 1 – Felix Haug, 52, Swiss pop musician (Double) May 5 Coxsone Dodd, 72, Jamaican record producer Ritsuko Okazaki, 44, Japanese songwriter May 6 – Barney Kessel, 80, jazz guitarist May 11 – John Whitehead, 55, R&B artist