2026 in music

This topic covers events and articles related to 2026 in music.

Specific locations

• African music
• American music
• British music
• Japanese music
• Philippine music
• Scandinavian music
• South Korean music

Specific genres

• Country
• Heavy metal
• Hip hop
• Latin
• Rock
• Jazz
• K-pop
• J-pop

Bands reformed

• Little Angels
• The Pussycat Dolls

Albums released

Awards

Bands disbanded

• Amefurasshi
• NOMAD
• Sepultura
• Svalbard
• Tokyo Girls' Style
• Ukka

Deaths

January

• 2
• Ritva Auvinen, 93, Finnish opera singer.
• Tony Carr, 98, Maltese session drummer and percussionist (CCS, Hot Chocolate).
• Johnny Legend, 77, American rockabilly musician
• 5
• Andrew Bodnar, 71, English bass guitarist (The Rumour) and songwriter ("I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass"). (death announced on this date)
• Andrew Carter, 86, English composer and conductor
• Mike Embro, 63, Canadian drummer (Razor) (death announced on this date)
• Elsje de Wijn, 82, Dutch actress and singer
• 6 – Jim McBride, 78, American country music songwriter ("Chasin' That Neon Rainbow", "(Who Says) You Can't Have It All", "Chattahoochee")
• 7
• James Bernard, American music journalist and magazine editor (The Source, XXL) (death announced on this date)
• Ihor Blazhkov, 89, Ukrainian conductor
• 8 - Guy Moon, 63, American television composer
• 9
• Dieudonné Larose, 80, Haitian singer
• Terry Sullivan, 87, British drummer (Renaissance)
• 10
• Yeison Jiménez, 34, Colombian singer, plane crash
• Bob Weir, 78, American Hall of Fame musician (Grateful Dead) and songwriter ("Sugar Magnolia", "One More Saturday Night"), complications from cancer
• 11
• Prashant Tamang, 43, Indian singer (Indian Idol), cardiac arrest
• John Wallace, 76, Scottish trumpeter, composer and arts educator
• 12
• Sheila Bernette, 94, English singer (The Good Old Days, The Black and White Minstrel Show)
• Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, 26, British guitarist (Black Midi) (death announced on this date)
• 13 – Seán Ó Sé, 89, Irish tenor singer
• 14
• , 76, Argentine singer.
• Quemil Yambay, 87, Paraguayan musician and composer.
• 15
• Raju Bandara, 65, Sri Lankan singer, kidney disease.
• Kenny Morris, 68, English drummer (Siouxsie and the Banshees). (death announced on this date)
• , 69, Argentine singer.
• 16
• Tony Dallara, 89, Italian singer ("Come Prima", "Romantica"), respiratory illness.
• Osvaldo Díaz, 76, Chilean singer.
• , 63, Spanish choral conductor, composer and musicologist.
• , 37, Slovak radio presenter and music concert host.
• Guillermo Rendón García, 90, Colombian composer and organist.
• 17
• Marikena Monti, 82, Argentine singer and actress.
• Tucker Zimmerman, 84, American singer-songwriter, smoke inhalation.
• 18
• Stephen "Cat" Coore, 69, Jamaican guitarist and cellist (Third World).
• , 63, Swedish musician (Black Ingvars, Swedish Erotica), cancer.
• Jaan Ross, 68, Estonian musicologist and psychologist.
• Ralph Towner, 85, American jazz multi-instrumentalist.
• 19
• , 70, Czech musician, actor and host.
• Billy Parker, 88, American country music singer and DJ.
• 20
• Rob Hirst, 70, Australian musician (Midnight Oil, Ghostwriters) and songwriter ("Forgotten Years"), pancreatic cancer. (death announced on this date)
• Yaw Sarpong, Ghanaian gospel musician and songwriter.
• 22
• Francis Buchholz, 71, German bass guitarist (Scorpions).
• Guy Hovis, 84, American singer (The Lawrence Welk Show).
• 23
• Dalibor Brun, 81, Croatian singer.
• Kristinn Svavarsson, 78, Icelandic saxophonist (Mezzoforte). (death announced on this date)
• 24 – Yuri Rymanov, 69, Russian guitarist (Lyube).
• 25
• Gabe Lopez, 49, American songwriter and producer, lymphoma.
• Abhijit Majumdar, 54, Indian composer and music director (Sasura Ghara Zindabad, Balunga Toka, Daha Balunga), liver disease.
• Marie Rouanet, 89, French singer and writer.
• Lucky Widja, 49, Indonesian singer and songwriter, kidney tuberculosis.
• 26
• Richie Beirach, 78, American jazz pianist and composer.
• Sly Dunbar, 73, Jamaican drummer (Sly and Robbie), record producer ("Underneath It All"), and songwriter ("Murder She Wrote").
• Béla Lattmann, 60, Hungarian jazz bassist.
• 27
• António Chainho, 88, Portuguese fado guitarist.
• Vladislav Chernushenko, 90, Russian conductor.
• 28
• Maroochy Barambah, 70, Australian Turrbal elder and mezzo-soprano singer.
• Nilton César, 86, Brazilian singer.
• Bryan Loren, 59, American songwriter ("Do the Bartman"). (death announced on this date)
• 29 – Wojciech Michniewski, 78, Polish composer and conductor. (death announced on this date)
• 30
• Abdelhadi Belkhayat, 85, Moroccan singer.
• Parthenon Huxley, 70, American musician (ELO Part II).
• , 59, Turkish singer and actor, complications from a heart attack.
• 31
• , 78, Hungarian singer, songwriter and musician.
• Mingo Lewis, 72, American percussionist and drummer (Santana, Al Di Meola, The Tubes). (death announced on this date)
• Billy Bass Nelson, 75, American Hall of Fame bass guitarist (Parliament-Funkadelic).

February

• 1
• Fernando Esteso, 80, Spanish singer, comedian, and actor, respiratory failure.
• Steve Washington, 67, American musician (Slave, Aurra). (death announced on this date)
• 2
• Chuck Negron, 83, American singer (Three Dog Night), heart failure and COPD.
• Ken Peplowski, 66, American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist.
• Yuan Wei-jen, 57, Taiwanese singer-songwriter.
• 3
• Ron Kenoly, 81, American Christian singer, worship leader, and songwriter.
• Lamonte McLemore, 90, American singer (The 5th Dimension).
• S. P. Venkatesh, 70, Indian film score composer (Kilukkam, Spadikam, Rajavinte Makan), cardiac arrest.
• 4
• François Beukelaers, 88, Belgian singer, actor and stage director.
• Tommy Crook, 81, American guitarist.
• Tōsha Meishō, 84, Japanese hayashi musician.
• 5
• Helen Micallef, 75, Maltese singer (Helen and Joseph).
• Fred Smith, 77, American bassist (Television, Blondie).
• Tamás Vásáry, 92, Hungarian pianist and conductor.
• 6 – Lynn Blakey, American musician (Tres Chicas, Let's Active).
• 7
• Brad Arnold, 47, American singer (3 Doors Down) and songwriter ("Kryptonite", "Here Without You"), renal cell carcinoma.
• Greg Brown, 56, American musician (Cake, Deathray) and songwriter ("The Distance").
• Ebo Taylor, 90, Ghanaian musician and producer.
• 8 – Matti Caspi, 76, Israeli singer-songwriter, cancer.
• 9 – Garland Green, 83, American soul singer and pianist.
• 10
• Des de Moor, 64, English writer and musician. (death announced on this date)
• Andrew Ranken, 72, English drummer (The Pogues).
• 11
• Jerry Kennedy, 85, American record producer, songwriter and guitarist.
• Helmuth Rilling, 92, German choral conductor (Gächinger Kantorei, Oregon Bach Festival, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart).
• László Somfai, 91, Hungarian musicologist.
• 12
• Saúl Cornejo, 79, Peruvian singer and composer (We All Together).
• Milkman, 36, Mexican rapper, producer, and composer.
• Michel Portal, 90, French composer, saxophonist and clarinetist.
• 13 – Simon Harris, 63, British music producer, DJ and electronic musician.
• 14 – Tim Very, 42, American rock drummer (Manchester Orchestra). (death announced on this date)
• 15
• Wayne Proctor, American guitarist (We the People).
• Leo Rosas, 27, Bolivian singer (The Voice of Mexico).
• 16
• Marzio Mazzanti, Italian singer and bassist (Homo Sapiens).
• Billy Steinberg, 75, American songwriter ("Like a Virgin", "True Colors", "Eternal Flame"), cancer.
• 17
• Jim Čert, 69, Czech singer and accordionist.
• Ray Reach, 77, American musician, composer and convicted pedophile.
• Shinya, 56, Japanese musician (Luna Sea), cancer.
• José van Dam, 85, Belgian operatic bass-baritone.
• Veikko Virtanen, 97, Finnish organ builder.
• 18
• Béatrice Ardisson, 62, French composer, cancer.
• Lil Poppa, 25, American rapper, suicide by gunshot.
• 19 – Nikolai Komyagin, 39, Russian singer (Shortparis).
• 20 – Zoya Dorodova, 85, Russian singer (Buranovskiye Babushki), cancer.
• 21
• John Bertalot, 94, English organist.
• Willie Colón, 75, American salsa musician ("Pedro Navaja"), respiratory failure.
• Mark Kennedy, 74, Australian drummer (Spectrum, Ayers Rock, Marcia Hines) and record producer.
• 22 – Luci4, 23, American rapper.
• 23
• Oliver "Power" Grant, 52, American executive producer (Wu-Tang Clan).
• Sondra Lee, 97, American musical actress (Hello, Dolly!, Peter Pan, Sunday in New York) and singer.
• Éliane Radigue, 94, French composer.
• Monti Rock III, 86, American singer (Disco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes), complications from COPD.
• 24
• Rostislav Gepp, 74, Russian musician (Ariel).
• Jiří Valenta, 66, Czech keyboardist (Olympic), suicide.
• Héctor Zamorano, 47, Mexican singer (La Academia).
• 25 – Roman Kofman, 89, Ukrainian conductor (Kyiv Chamber Orchestra) and composer.
• 26 – Utsav Charan Das, 80, Indian dancer, lyricist and music composer.
• 27
• Neil Sedaka, 86, American singer ("Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", "Bad Blood") and songwriter ("Love Will Keep Us Together").
• Travis Wammack, 81, American rock and roll guitarist.
• 28
• John P. Hammond, 83, American blues singer and guitarist.
• Boncana Maïga, 77, Malian composer and musician.
• , 71, Estonian guitarist.
• Terry Watkinson, 85, Canadian musician (Max Webster).

March

• 1
• Bob Power, 74, American record producer and audio engineer.
• J. Strauss, Swedish singer and musician (Morlocks).
• Gary Walker, 83, American musician (The Standells, The Walker Brothers), stroke.
• 2
• Len Garry, 84, English musician (The Quarrymen), pneumonia.
• Mike Vernon, 81, English record producer ("Albatross", "Hocus Pocus"), music executive and recording studio owner (Chipping Norton Recording Studios).
• 3
• Roy Book Binder, 82, American blues musician.
• Gustav Gunsenheimer, 91, German composer and church music director.
• Zsolt Kerestely, 91, Romanian composer and conductor.
• 4 - Bernard Rands, 92, British-born American composer.
• 5
• Jacques Michel, 84, Canadian musician and songwriter.
• Mihail Secichin, 82, Moldovan pianist, director of Maria Bieșu National Opera and Ballet Theatre (1990–1992).
• Lee Turner, 89, American musician (The Dream Weavers).
• 6 - Franco Vito Gaiezza, 66, Italian musician and writer, heart attack.
• 7
• Vidi Aldiano, 35, Indonesian singer-songwriter, kidney cancer.
• David Brigati, 85, American singer (Joey Dee and the Starliters, The Rascals).
• Donny Fattah, 76, Indonesian bassist (God Bless) and songwriter, sarcopenia, vascular blockage, and autoimmune diseases.
• Walter Martino, 72, Italian drummer (Goblin).
• Country Joe McDonald, 84, American singer (Country Joe and the Fish) and songwriter ("I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag").
• Augie Meyers, 85, American musician (Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornados).
• 8
• Zeph Ellis, 37, British rapper.
• Dilworth Karaka, 75, New Zealand musician (Herbs) and songwriter ("Sensitive to a Smile").
• Mantana Morakul, 102, Thai singer and actress.
• Shane Rout, 53, Australian drummer (Blood Duster).
• 9
• Tommy DeCarlo, 60, American singer (Boston),
• Blake Emmons, 81, Canadian country singer.
• Gabba, British guitarist (Chaos UK).
• 10
• Willie Anthony Waters, 74, American opera conductor and artistic director (Connecticut Opera). (death announced on this date)
• Zalek, 30, Colombian reggaeton singer.
• 12
• Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson, 73, Icelandic composer.
• Iulian Vrabete, 70, Romanian bassist (Holograf), cancer.
• 13
• Phil Campbell, 64, Welsh guitarist (Motörhead, Persian Risk, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons).
• Fatma Sarhan, 97–98, Egyptian singer.
• 14 – Paul Geremia, 81, American blues musician.
• 15
• Irmeli Mäkelä, 83, Finnish pop singer.
• , 63, Italian singer.
• 16
• Dolores Keane, 72, Irish folk singer (De Dannan).
• Wayne Perkins, 74, American guitarist, stroke.
• 17
• , 23, Czech singer.
• Bettina Köster, 66, German singer, musician and composer.
• Rainelle Krause, 37, American soprano.
• 18 - Robert White, 89, American tenor.
• 19 - Terry Cox, 89, British drummer (Pentangle, The Humblebums).
• 20
• Aref, 84, Iranian pop singer.
• Louie Louie, 63, American singer ("Sittin' in the Lap of Luxury").
• Richard Phillips, 85, British music promoter.
• 17
• Daniel Buira, 54, Argentine drummer (Los Piojos).
• Steve Houben, 76, Belgian jazz saxophonist and flutist.
• 22
• Ronnie Bowman, 64, American bluegrass guitarist and singer-songwriter
• Sylvia Kersenbaum, 84, Argentine pianist, composer and teacher.
• 23
• Jerry Dee Lewis, American rapper (The Cold Crush Brothers).
• , 61, Japanese rock drummer (The Pillows), esophageal cancer
• Chip Taylor, 86, American singer and songwriter ("Angel of the Morning", "Wild Thing").
• 24
• , 40, Estonian rapper (5miinust), suicide.
• Gino Paoli, 91, Italian singer-songwriter ("Il cielo in una stanza", "Senza fine", "Sapore di sale") and politician, deputy (1987–1992).
• 25
• Dash Crofts, 87, American soft rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (Seals & Crofts)
• Mick Roberts, 57, English singer (The Bridewell Taxis).
• 26
• Ahmad Kaabour, 70, Lebanese singer.
• Ross the Boss, 72, American guitarist (Manowar, The Dictators).
• 27
• Jon Dee Graham, 67, American musician (The Skunks, True Believers).
• Mahbuba Rahman, 91, Bangladeshi playback singer (Mukh O Mukhosh, The Day Shall Dawn).
• 28 – Marinella, 87, Greek pop singer

References