2021 in music
This topic covers notable events and articles related to 2021 in music == Specific locations == == Specific genres == == Albums released == == Awards == == Bands formed == == Soloist debuts == == Bands reformed == Fugees == Bands on hiatus == ALI Alphabeat Dogleg Got7 Kariyushi58 Lovelyz Silent Siren Suchmos Tokyo Performance Doll == Bands disbanded == == Deaths == === January === 1 Carlos do Carmo, 81, Portuguese fado singer Misty Morgan, 75, American country music singer (Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan) Liam Reilly, 65, Irish folk rock singer and keyboardist (Bagatelle) Jan Vering, 65, German gospel singer 3 Gerry Marsden, 78, English rock singer and guitarist (Gerry and the Pacemakers) Warren McLean, Australian rock drummer (Machinations, I'm Talking, Divinyls) 4 – Alexi Laiho, 41, Finnish death metal singer and guitarist (Children of Bodom) (death announced on this date) 5 – John Georgiadis, 81, British classical violinist and conductor 6 – Paul de Leon, 52, American metal drummer (Las Cruces) 7 Deezer D, 55, American rapper and actor Genival Lacerda, 89, Brazilian forro singer Jamie O'Hara, 70, American country music singer-songwriter (The O'Kanes) 8 Ed Bruce, 81, American country music singer-songwriter Michael Fonfara, 74, Canadian blues and rock keyboardist (The Electric Flag, Rhinoceros, Downchild Blues Band) Uno Loop, 91, Estonian singer and guitarist Elijah Moshinsky, 75, Australian opera director 10 – Thorleif Torstensson, 71, Swedish dansband singer, guitarist and saxophonist (Thorleifs) 11 Howard Johnson, 79, American jazz multi-instrumentalist Mark Keds, 50, British pop punk singer (Senseless Things) Don Miller, 80, American pop singer (The Vogues) 12 – Ron Getman, 72, American country rock guitarist and singer (The Tractors) 13 Tim Bogert, 76, American psychedelic rock bassist (Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Beck, Bogert & Appice) Duke Bootee, 69, American rapper, producer and songwriter Sylvain Sylvain, 69, American glam rock guitarist (New York Dolls) 14 Duranice Pace, 62, American gospel singer (The Anointed Pace Sisters) Larry Willoughby, 73, American country music singer-songwriter 16 Jason Cope, 43, American country guitarist (The Steel Woods) Pave Maijanen, 70, Finnish rock keyboardist (Hurriganes, Dingo) Claudia Montero, 58, Argentine classical composer Phil Spector, 81, American record producer, pop musician (The Teddy Bears), and songwriter 17 Ghulam Mustafa Khan, 89, Indian classical singer Junior Mance, 92, American jazz pianist Sammy Nestico, 96, American jazz composer and arranger 18 Perry Botkin Jr., 87, American composer and arranger Maria Koterbska, 96, Polish swing and jazz singer Jimmie Rodgers, 87, American pop singer 20 – Joe Jordan, 79, American pop singer and musician (The Jordan Brothers) 21 Randy Parton, 67, American country music singer-songwriter Marc Phillips, 66, American rock singer (Hotel) and record producer 22 Narendra Chanchal, 80, Indian religious singer Guem, 73, Algerian jazz singer James Purify, 76, American R&B singer (James & Bobby Purify) 23 Jonas Gwangwa, 83, South African jazz trombonist (The Jazz Epistles) Gabriel Ruiz Díaz, 45, Argentine alternative rock bassist (Catupecu Machu) 24 – Tom Stevens, 64, American alternative country bassist (The Long Ryders) 25 – Iron, 29, South Korean rapper 26 Cara O'Sullivan, 59, Irish opera singer 6 Dogs, 21, American rapper 27 – Trung Kiên, 81, Vietnamese classical singer 28 César Isella, 82, Argentine folk singer and guitarist (Los Fronterizos) Sibongile Khumalo, 63, South African jazz and classical singer Singing Sandra, 63, Trinidadian calypso singer Rick Shaw, 79, American folk singer and string guitarist (The Hillside Singers) 29 Ahmed Achour, 75, Tunisian classical composer and conductor Grady Gaines, 86, American blues saxophonist Jeremy Lubbock, 89, English arranger and composer Hilton Valentine, 77, English rock guitarist (The Animals) 30 Double K, 43, American rapper (People Under the Stairs) Sophie, 34, Scottish electronic singer-songwriter and producer Alla Yoshpe, 83, Russian pop singer 31 – Wambali Mkandawire, Malawian jazz singer === February === 1 Chuck Kaye, 80, American music industry executive Temur Tsiklauri, 75, Georgian pop singer (VIA Iveria) 2 – Aaron Wegelin, American indie rock drummer (Elf Power) 3 Anne Feeney, 69, American folk singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly, 77, American pop and country music singer-songwriter 4 Stefan Cush, 60, British folk-punk singer and guitarist (The Men They Couldn't Hang) Matt Harris, American power pop bassist (The Posies) Jessie Smith, 79, American R&B singer (The Ikettes) Nolan Porter, 71, American R&B singer-songwriter Gil Saunders, American soul singer (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes) 5 Abdoul Jabbar, 40, Guinean dance singer Douglas Miller, 71, American gospel singer Örs Siklósi, 29, Hungarian metalcore singer (AWS) 7 Elliot Mazer, 79, American record producer and audio engineer Stefano Mazzonis di Pralafera, 71, Italian opera director (Opéra Royal de Wallonie) Ricardo Silva Elizondo, 67, Mexican pop singer 8 Roza Akkuchukova, 70, Russian pop singer Servando Cano Rodríguez, 78, Mexican Tejano singer-songwriter Mary Wilson, 76, American R&B singer (The Supremes) 9 Chick Corea, 79, American jazz fusion keyboardist and composer (Return to Forever, Chick Corea Elektric Band) Cedrick Cotton, 46, American R&B singer (Ideal) Ghédalia Tazartès, 73, French musique concrète multi-instrumentalist 10 Jon Mark, 77, English pop singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mark-Almond) Lee Sexton, 92, American bluegrass banjoist 11 – Joel Pina, 100, Portuguese fado guitarist (Amália Rodrigues) 12 – Milford Graves, 79, American jazz drummer (New York Art Quartet) 13 Louis Clark, 73, British symphonic rock conductor and keyboardist (Electric Light Orchestra, ELO Part II, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) Sydney Devine, 81, British country and skiffle singer 14 Erriquez, 60, Italian folk rock singer and guitarist (Bandabardò) Ari Gold, 47, American R&B singer 15 Steuart Bedford, 81, British classical conductor and pianist Lucien Gourong, 77, French cabaret singer Andréa Guiot, 93, French opera singer Raymond Lévesque, 92, French chanson singer Johnny Pacheco, 85, Dominican salsa multi-instrumentalist (Fania All-Stars) and record producer 16 Carman, 65, American contemporary Christian singer Tonton David, 53, French reggae singer 17 Françoise Cactus, 57, German indie rock singer and drummer (Stereo Total) Ali Hossain, 80, Bangladeshi classical composer U-Roy, 78, Jamaican reggae singer 18 Prince Markie Dee, 52, American rapper (The Fat Boys) Miles Seaton, 41, American indie rock singer and multi-instrumentalist (Akron/Family) 19 Đorđe Balašević, 67, Serbian rock singer (Rani Mraz) James Burke, 70, American soul singer (Five Stairsteps) Jerold Ottley, 86, American choral conductor (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) 20 Joe Burke, 81, Irish folk accordionist Richard Shephard, 71, British classical conductor Gene Taylor, 68, American rock keyboardist (The Blasters, Canned Heat, The Fabulous Thunderbirds) 21 – Hélène Martin, 92, French chanson singer 22 – Yalchin Rzazadeh, 74, Azerbaijani pop singer 23 – Sean Kennedy, 35, Australian metalcore bassist (I Killed The Prom Queen, Deez Nuts) 24 – Sardool Sikander, 60, Indian folk singer 26 – Bob James, 68, American hard rock singer (Montrose) 27 – Danilo Rustici, 72, Italian progressive rock guitarist (Osanna) 28 Anna Kast, 39, Russian EDM singer (Little Big) Ian North, 68, American power pop singer and guitarist (Milk 'N' Cookies, Neo) Jorge Oñate, 71, Colombian vallenato singer === March === 1 – Ralph Peterson Jr., 58, American jazz drummer (Out of the Blue, The Jazz Messengers) 2 Chris Barber, 90, English jazz bandleader and trombonist Mark Goffeney, 51, American rock bassist Radim Pařízek, 67, Czech heavy metal drummer (Citron) Bunny Wailer, 73, Jamaican reggae singer and songwriter (Bob Marley and the Wailers) 3 Medea Abrahamyan, 88, Armenian classical cellist Duffy Jackson, 67, American jazz drummer 4 Alan Cartwright, 75, English rock bassist (Procol Harum) Barbara Ess, 72, American post-punk multi-instrumentalist (Y Pants, Disband) Helmut Winschermann, 100, German classical oboist, and conductor (Deutsche Bachsolisten) 5 Anna Shuttleworth, 93, British classical cellist Michael Stanley, 72, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist 6 – Carmel Quinn, 95, Irish-American pop singer 7 Sanja Ilić, 69, Serbian folk rock keyboardist (San, Balkanika) Josky Kiambukuta, 72, Congolese rumba singer (TPOK Jazz) Lars-Göran Petrov, 49, Swedish heavy metal singer and drummer (Entombed, Entombed A.D., Morbid) 9 – James Levine, 77, American classical conductor and pianist (Metropolitan Opera) 8 Adrian Bărar, 61, Romanian heavy metal guitarist and composer (Cargo) James Mac Gaw, French progressive rock guitarist (Magma) 11 Ray Campi, 86, American rockabilly musician Jewlia Eisenberg, 50, American avant-rock singer (Charming Hostess) Florentín Giménez, 95, Paraguayan classical and folk pianist 12 – Maximiliano Djerfy, 46, Argentine alternative rock guitarist (Callejeros) 14 Eulalio Cervantes, 52, Mexican rock saxophonist (Maldita Vecindad) Reggie Warren, 52, American R&B singer (Troop) 15 Dragoljub Đuričić, 58, Serbian rock and jazz drummer (YU Grupa, Kerber, Leb i sol) Doug Parkinson, 74, Australian pop and jazz singer (Fanny Adams, The Life Organisation) 16 – Bill Irvine, 87, American rock and roll pianist (Chuck Alaimo Quartet) 17 Matt Miller, 34, American indie rock keyboardist (Titus Andronicus) Freddie Redd, 92, American jazz keyboardist Corey Steger, 42, American metalcore guitarist (Underoath) 18 – Paul Jackson, 73, American jazz fusion bassist (The Headhunters, Azteca) 19 Cristián Cuturrufo, 48, Chilean jazz trumpeter Gary Leib, 65, American new wave keyboardist (Rubber Rodeo) 20 Constance Demby, 81, American new age keyboardist and dulcimer player Taryn Fiebig, 49, Australian opera singer Yevgeny Nesterenko, 83, Russian opera singer Dan Sartain, 39, American garage rock and rockabilly singer-songwriter 23 Don Heffington, 70, American roots rock drummer (Lone Justice, Watkins Family Hour) Hana Hegerová, 89, Slovak chanson singer Peter Viskinde, 67, Danish rock guitarist (Malurt, Big Fat Snake) 25 – Tavish Maloney, 24, American emo guitarist (Oso Oso) 26 – Brett Bradshaw, 50, American glam metal drummer (Faster Pussycat) 28 – Malcolm Cecil, 84, British jazz bassist and synthesizer player (Tonto's Expanding Head Band, Blues Incorporated, The Jazz Couriers) 29 Jerry Burgan, 76, American folk rock guitarist (We Five) Hans Kinds, 74, Dutch blues rock guitarist (Cuby + Blizzards) 30 – Willie Schofield, 81, American R&B singer-songwriter (The Falcons) 31 Anzor Erkomaishvili, 80, Georgian folk singer Jadwiga Wysoczanská, 93, Czech opera singer === April === 1 – Tony Pola, Australian blues-rock drummer (Beasts of Bourbon, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists) 2 Shaukat Ali, 76, Pakistani folk singer Morris "B.B." Dickerson, 71, American funk bassist and singer (War) Gabi Luncă, 82, Romanian lăutărească singer Nelu Ploieşteanu, 70, Romanian lăutărească singer 3 Earl Bulinski, 72, American rock musician (The Electras) Jill Corey, 85, American pop singer 4 – Paul Humphrey, 60, Canadian new wave singer (Blue Peter) 5 Haja El Hamdaouia, 91, Moroccan aita and chaabi singer Krzysztof Krawczyk, 74, Polish pop singer and composer 6 – Predrag Živković Tozovac, 85, Serbian folk singer 9 – DMX, 50, American rapper 10 Shay Healy, 78, Irish pop songwriter Bob Petric, American indie rock guitarist (Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments) Bosse Skoglund, 85, Swedish blues drummer 11 Mita Haque, 58, Bangladeshi Rabindra Sagreet singer Zoran Simjanović, 74, Serbian classical composer and rock keyboardist (Siluete, Elipse) 13 Farid Ahmed, 66, Bangladeshi film composer Leonid Bortkevich, 71, Belarusian folk rock singer (Pesniary) Rocco Filippini, 77, Swiss classical cellist 14 Michel Louvain, 83, Canadian pop singer Rusty Young, 75, American country rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (Poco) 15 – Barby Kelly, 45, Spanish-born German folk singer (The Kelly Family) 16 Barry Mason, 85, British pop songwriter Mike Mitchell, 77, American rock guitarist (The Kingsmen) 17 – Black Rob, 52, American rapper 18 Lew Lewis, British pub rock harmonica player (Eddie and the Hot Rods) Paul Oscher, 71, American blues singer Lars Ranzenberger, 53, German-born Spanish power metal bassist (Metalium) 19 – Jim Steinman, 73, American rock lyricist, composer, pianist, and record producer 20 – Les McKeown, 65, Scottish pop rock singer (Bay City Rollers) 21 Lea Dali Lion, 47, Estonian pop singer Joe Long, 88, American pop rock bassist (The Four Seasons) 22 – Shock G, 57, American rapper (Digital Underground) 23 Fredi, 78, Finnish novelty pop singer Milva, 81, Italian pop singer 25 Denny Freeman, 76, American blues guitarist Rajan Mishra, 70, Indian khyal sarangi player (Rajan and Sajan Mishra) 27 – Paul Couter, 72, Belgian rock guitarist (TC Matic) 28 Toni Dalli, 87, Italian pop singer Anita Lane, 61, Australian alternative rock singer-songwriter (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) Liuwe Tamminga, 67, Dutch classical harpsichordist and organist 29 Johnny Crawford, 75, American pop singer John Hinch, 73, British heavy metal drummer (Judas Priest, Bakerloo) Tony Markellis, 68, American jam band bassist (Trey Anastasio Band) Will Mecum, 48, American stoner rock guitarist (Karma to Burn, Year Long Disaster) 30 John Dee Holeman, 92, American blues guitarist Anthony Payne, 84, British classical composer Ray Reyes, 51, Puerto Rican pop singer (Menudo, El Reencuentro) === May === 1 Debu Chaudhuri, 85, Indian classical sitarist Wondress Hutchinson, 56, American dance singer (Mantronix) 2 – Tommy West, 78, American music producer and pop singer-songwriter (Cashman & West) 3 Phil Naro, 63, American hard rock singer (Talas) Lloyd Price, 88, American R&B singer-songwriter 4 Rodolfo García, 75, Argentine psychedelic rock drummer (Almendra, Aquelarre) Nick Kamen, 59, English pop singer-songwriter Genji Kuniyoshi, 90, Japanese folk singer 6 Comagan, 48, Indian playback singer Vanya Kostova, 64, Bulgarian pop singer (Tonika) Prem Dhoj Pradhan, 82, Nepali pop singer and guitarist Pervis Staples, 85, American gospel singer (The Staple Singers) 7 G. Anand, 67, Indian playback singer Vanraj Bhatia, 93, Indian film composer Cassiano, 77, Brazilian funk and soul singer-songwriter 8 – Curtis Fuller, 86, American jazz trombonist (The Jazz Messengers) 10 Svante Thuresson, 68, Swedish jazz and schlager singer (Gals and Pals) Pauline Tinsley, 93, British opera singer 12 – Maran, 48, Indian gaana singer 13 Norman Simmons, 91, American jazz pianist and arranger Jack Terricloth, 50, American dark cabaret singer (The World/Inferno Friendship Society) Bill Tsamis, 60, American metal guitarist (Warlord) 14 – Ester Mägi, 99, Estonian classical composer 15 Đorđe Marjanović, 89, Serbian schlager and pop singer Mario Pavone, 80, American jazz bassist 16 Patsy Bruce, 81, American country songwriter MC Kevin, 23, Brazilian funk carioca singer 17 Nicolas Ker, 50, French electronic singer (Poni Hoax) Neal Ford, 78, American psychedelic rock singer (Neal Ford and the Fanatics) Amarendra Mohanty, 63, Indian film composer and singer 18 – Franco Battiato, 76, Italian progressive rock and new wave singer-songwriter 19 Johnny Ashcroft, 94, Australian country and folk singer-songwriter Alix Dobkin, 80, American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist Martin Turnovský, 92, Czech classical conductor 20 – Roger Hawkins, 75, American rock and soul drummer (Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) 22 – Glenn Douglas Tubb, 85, American country singer-songwriter 23 Dewayne Blackwell, 84, American country songwriter Lorrae Desmond, 93, Australian cabaret singer and actress 24 John Davis, 66, American dance pop singer (Milli Vanilli) Samuel E. Wright, 74, American pop singer and actor 25 – Søren Holm, 25, Danish indie pop singer (Liss) 26 Tom Shannon, 82, American radio DJ, songwriter and musician (The Rebels) Patrick Sky, 80, American folk singer-songwriter 27 Tiit Haagma, 67, Estonian progressive rock bassist (Ruja) Shantiraj Khosla, 54, Indian film composer and singer Nelson Sargento, 96, Brazilian samba singer 28 Zohra Abdullayeva, 68, Azerbaijani mugham singer Jimi Bellmartin, 71, Indonesian-born Dutch funk singer 29 B. J. Thomas, 78, American pop singer Johnny Trudell, 82, American jazz trumpeter 31 - Lil Loaded, 20, American rapper === June === 3 – Karla Burns, 66, American opera singer 6 – Michele Merlo, 28, Italian pop singer-songwriter 7 – David C. Lewis, American soft rock and new age keyboardist (Ambrosia, Shadowfax) 8 Farhad Humayun, 42, Pakistani psychedelic rock drummer and singer (Overload) Dean Parrish, 78, American soul singer 9 – Juan Nelson, 62, American blues rock bassist (Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals) 10 – Fran McKendree, 74, American folk rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (McKendree Spring) 11 Heribert Beissel, 88, German classical composer Jon Lukas, 72, Maltese pop singer 14 – Selçuk Tekay, 68, Turkish classical composer and violinist 16 – Novica Zdravković, 73, Serbian folk singer 17 – Fane Flaws, 70, New Zealand rock guitarist (The Crocodiles, The Spats, Blerta) 18 Gift of Gab, 50, American rapper (Blackalicious) Takeshi Terauchi, 82, Japanese surf rock guitarist 20 Jeanne Lamon, 71, American-Canadian classical violinist and conductor Lionel Leroy, 65, French pop singer Gianna Rolandi, 68, American opera singer 21 Nobuo Hara, 94, Japanese jazz saxophonist Mamady Keïta, 70, Guinean djembe player Pat Lupo, 66, American rock bassist (John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band) 22 – Parassala B. Ponnammal, 96, Indian Carnatic singer 23 David Edwards, 56, Welsh post-punk singer (Datblygu) Ellen McIlwaine, 75, American-Canadian psychedelic rock and blues singer and slide guitarist (Fear Itself) Peter Zinovieff, 88, British electronic composer and founder of Electronic Music Studios 25 Rinaldo Rafanelli, 71, Argentine psychedelic rock singer (Color Humano, Sui Generis) Wes, 57, Cameroonian world music singer 26 Jon Hassell, 84, American jazz trumpeter Frederic Rzewski, 83, American classical pianist and composer Johnny Solinger, 55, American hard rock singer (Skid Row) 27 Willy Crook, 55, Argentine new wave saxophonist (Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota) Peps Persson, 74, Swedish blues and reggae singer 28 Burton Greene, 84, American free jazz pianist Paul Koulak, 78, French television composer 29 John Lawton, 74, British rock singer (Uriah Heep, Lucifer's Friend, Les Humphries Singers) Bryan St.