# List of murdered musicians

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 |
| Alessandro Stradella | Alessandro Stradella | 25 February 1682 | 38 | Genoa, Italy | Unknown | Stabbing | Classical composer |
| Jean-Marie Leclair | Jean-Marie Leclair | 22 October 1764 | 67 | Paris, France | Unknown | Stabbing | Classical composer and violinist |
| Clarence Smith | Pinetop Smith | 15 March 1929 | 24 | Chicago, Illinois, US | Unknown | Shooting | Boogie-woogie pianist |
| Alejandro García Caturla | Alejandro García Caturla | 12 November 1940 | 34 | Havana, Cuba | Unknown | Unknown | Classical composer |
| Anton Webern | Anton Webern | 15 September 1945 | 61 | Vienna, Austria | Pfc. Raymond Norwood Bell | Shooting | Classical composer |
| John Williamson | Sonny Boy Williamson | 1 June 1948 | 34 | Chicago, Illinois, US | Unknown | Shooting | Blues singer |
| Francis Blackwell | Scrapper Blackwell | 7 October 1962 | 59 | Indianapolis, Indiana, US | Unknown | Shooting | Blues guitarist, composer |
| Marc Blitzstein | Marc Blitzstein | 22 January 1964 | 58 | Martinique | Three men | Beating | Classical/musical theatre composer |
| Sam Cooke | Sam Cooke | 11 December 1964 | 33 | Los Angeles, US | Bertha Franklin | Shooting | Soul singer-songwriter |
| Darrell Banks | Darrell Banks | 24 February, 1970 | 32 | Detroit, Michigan, US | Aaron Bullock | Shooting | Soul singer |
| Curtis Ousley | King Curtis | 13 August 1971 | 37 | New York City, US | Juan Montanez | Stabbing | Jazz saxophonist |
| Lee Morgan | Lee Morgan | 19 February 1972 | 33 | New York City, US | Helen Morgan | Shooting | Jazz trumpeter |
| Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez | Víctor Jara | 16 September 1973 | 40 | Santiago, Chile | Chilean military officers | Shooting and torture | Singer-songwriter |
| David Akeman | Stringbean | 10 November 1973 | 58 | Ridgetop, Tennessee, US | John A. Brown and Marvin Douglas Brown | Shooting | Country banjo player |
| Albert Jackson Jr. | Al Jackson Jr. | 1 October 1975 | 39 | Memphis, Tennessee, US | Unknown | Shooting | R&B, funk and soul drummer |
| Eddie Jefferson | Eddie Jefferson | 9 May 1979 | 60 | Detroit, Michigan, US | Unknown | Shooting | Vocalese |
| Jannie Pought | Jannie Pought | September 1980 | 34 | New Jersey | Unknown | Stabbing | R&B singer |
| John Lennon | John Lennon | 8 December 1980 | 40 | New York City, US | Mark David Chapman | Shooting | Rock and pop artist |
| Claude Vivier | Claude Vivier | 7 March 1983 | 34 | Paris, France | Pascal Dolzan | Stabbing | Classical composer |
| Felix Pappalardi Jr. | Felix Pappalardi | 17 April 1983 | 43 | New York City, US | Gail Pappalardi | Shooting | Rock artist |
| Hugh Mundell | Hugh Mundell | 14 October 1983 | 21 | Kingston, Jamaica | Ricardo Codrington | Shooting | Reggae singer |
| Walter Notheis Jr. | Walter Scott | 27 December 1983 | 40 | St. Peters, Missouri, US | James H. Williams Sr. | Shooting | Rock and roll singer |
| Marvin Gaye | Marvin Gaye | 1 April 1984 | 44 | Los Angeles, California, US | Marvin Gay Sr. | Shooting | R&B singer |
| Leonard Breau | Lenny Breau | 12 August 1984 | 43 | Los Angeles, California, US | Unknown | Strangling | Guitarist |
| Carlton Barrett | Carly Barrett | 17 April 1987 | 36 | Kingston, Jamaica | Glenroy Carter and Junior Neil | Shooting | Reggae drummer |
| Winston Hubert McIntosh | Peter Tosh | 11 September 1987 | 42 | Kingston, Jamaica | Dennis Lobban and two other individuals | Shooting and torture | Reggae artist |
| John Pastorius, III | Jaco Pastorius | 21 September 1987 | 35 | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US | Luc Havan | Beaten (barfight), brain hemorrhage | Jazz bassist |
| Amar Singh Chamkila | Chamkila | 8 March 1988 | 27 | Mehsampur, Punjab, India | Unknown | Shooting | Punjabi singer |
| Michael David Fuller | Blaze Foley | 1 February 1989 | 39 | Austin, Texas, US | Carey January | Shooting | Country, folk singer-songwriter |
| Osbourne Ruddock | King Tubby | 6 February 1989 | 48 | Kingston, Jamaica | Unknown | Shooting | Reggae sound engineer |
| Belgin Sarılmışer | Bergen | 14 August 1989 | 31 | Pozantı,Turkey | Halis Serbest | Shooting | Arabseque Singer,actress |
| Cornell Gunter | Cornell Gunter | 26 February 1990 | 53 | Las Vegas, Nevada, US | Unknown | Shooting | R&B singer |
| Andrzej Zaucha | Andrzej Zaucha | 10 October 1991 | 42 | Kraków, Poland | Yves Goulais | Shooting | R&B singer, saxophonist |
| Christopher Lamont Bender | Chris Bender | 3 November 1991 | 19 | Brockton, Massachusetts, US | Eroy Kindell | Shooting | R&B singer |
| David Rowbotham | Dave Rowbotham | 8 November 1991 | 33 | Manchester, England | Unknown | Bludgeoned by hammer | Rock musician |
| Rosalino Sánchez Félix | Chalino Sanchez | 16 May 1992 | 31 | Culiacán, Mexico | Unknown | Shooting | Narcocorrido singer |
| Willie Irving Gaston Junior | Heavy One | 29 September 1992 | 24 | Eaton Road Barry Farms Southeast DC | Unknown | Shooting | Bass, drummer, of the Junk Yard Band |
| Mia Zapata | Mia Zapata | 7 July 1993 | 27 | Seattle, Washington, US | Jesus Mezquia | Strangling | Rock singer |
| Donald Myrick | Don Myrick | 30 July 1993 | 53 | Los Angeles, California, US | Police Officer Gary Barbaro | Shooting | Jazz saxophonist |
| Øystein Aarseth | Euronymous | 10 August 1993 | 25 | Oslo, Norway | Varg Vikernes | Stabbing | Black metal guitarist |
| Rhett Forrester | Rhett Forrester | 22 January 1994 | 37 | Atlanta, Georgia, US | Unknown | Shooting | Heavy metal musician |
| Hasni Chakroun | Cheb Hasni | 29 September 1994 | 26 | Oran, Algeria | Armed Islamic Group of Algeria | Shooting | Raï singer |
| Selena Quintanilla-Pérez | Selena | 31 March 1995 | 23 | Corpus Christi, Texas, US | Yolanda Saldivar | Shooting | Tejano singer |
| Tupac Shakur | Tupac; 2Pac; Makaveli | 13 September 1996 | 25 | Las Vegas, Nevada, US | Orlando Anderson (suspected) | Shooting | Rapper |
| Christopher Wallace | The Notorious B.I.G.; Biggie Smalls; Frank White | 9 March 1997 | 24 | Los Angeles, California, US | Wardell "Poochie" Fouse (suspected) | Shooting | Rapper |
| Lounès Matoub | Lounès Matoub | 25 June 1998 | 42 | Aït Aissi, Tizi Ouzou, Algeria | Armed Islamic Group of Algeria | Shooting | Kabyle music singer |
| Jaki Byard | Jaki Byard | 11 February 1999 | 76 | New York City, US | Unknown | Shooting | Jazz pianist |
| Roger Troutman | Roger Troutman | 25 April 1999 | 47 | Dayton, Ohio, US | Larry Troutman | Shooting | Funk musician |
| Darrell Abbott | Diamond Darrell; Dimebag Darrell | 8 December 2004 | 38 | Columbus, Ohio, US | Nathan Gale | Shooting | Heavy metal guitarist |
| Bryan Harvey | Bryan Harvey | 1 January 2006 | 49 | Richmond, Virginia, US | Ray Joseph Dandridge and Ricky Javon Gray | Blunt-force trauma | Folk rock singer/guitarist |
| Valentín Elizalde | Valentin Elizalde | 25 November 2006 | 27 | Reynosa, Mexico | Unknown | Shooting | Banda singer |
| Winston Riley | Winston Riley | 19 January 2012 | 68 | Kingston, Jamaica | Unknown | Shooting | Rocksteady/reggae singer and producer |
| Natalia Strelchenko | Natalia Strelle | 30 August 2015 | 38 | Manchester, England | John Martin | Head trauma, strangulation | Classical pianist |
| Christina Grimmie | Christina Grimmie | 10 June 2016 | 22 | Orlando, Florida, US | Kevin James Loibl | Shooting | Pop singer |
| Amjad Sabri | Amjad Sabri | 22 June 2016 | 39 | Karachi, Pakistan | Pakistani Taliban | Shooting | Qawwali singer |
| Jahseh Onfroy | XXXTentacion | 18 June 2018 | 20 | Deerfield Beach, Florida, US | Four men indicted | Shooting | Rapper and singer |
| Andrea Meyer | Nebelhexe | 13 October 2021 | 52 | Kongsberg, Norway | Espen Andersen Bråthen | Stabbing | Rock and electronic singer |
| Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu | Sidhu Moose Wala | 29 May 2022 | 28 | Punjab, India | Unknown | Shooting | Rapper and singer |
| Yurii Kerpatenko | Yurii Kerpatenko | 16 October 2022 | 46 | Kherson Oblast, Ukraine | Russian soldiers | Shooting | Classical conductor, accordionist |