1966 in music

• 1966 in British music
• 1966 in Norwegian music

• 1966 in country music
• 1966 in jazz

• January 8 – Shindig! is broadcast for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who; 2 days earlier, the birthday of Elvis Presley is celebrated in the final Thursday episode of the series.
• January 14 – Young English singer David Jones changes his last name to Bowie to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
• January 17 – Simon & Garfunkel release the album Sounds of Silence in the US.
• February 2 – The first edition of Go-Set magazine is published in Melbourne, Australia. Founded by former Monash University students Phillip Frazer and Tony Schauble, the new weekly is the first independent periodical in Australia devoted entirely to popular music and youth culture. The inaugural 24-page issue has a cover feature on Tom Jones, stories on The Groop, singer Pat Carroll and DJ Ken Sparkes and a feature on mod fashion by designer Prue Acton.
• February 6 – The Animals appear a fifth time on The Ed Sullivan Show to perform their iconic Vietnam-anthem hit "We Gotta Get Out of this Place".
• February 17 – Brian Wilson starts recording "Good Vibrations" with The Wrecking Crew, continuing for several months and marking a beginning to the famed Smile sessions.
• February 19 – Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin perform at the Fillmore.
• February 25 – The Yardbirds release the single "Shapes of Things"/"Mister, You're a Better Man Than I", heralding the dawn of the psychedelic era in British rock. "Shapes" will peak at No. 3 in the UK and No. 10 in Canada and the US, where it remains on the charts throughout the spring of 1966, making its final Hot 100 appearance mid-June.
• March 4 – The Beatles' John Lennon is quoted in the London Evening Standard newspaper as saying that "We're more popular than Jesus now." In August, following publication of this remark in Datebook, there are Beatles protests and record burnings in the Southern US's Bible Belt.
• March 5 – The 11th Eurovision Song Contest is staged in the Villa Louvigny, Luxembourg. Udo Jürgens, having represented Austria in the last two contests (sixth in 1964; fourth in 1965), finally scores a first for the country, with "Merci, Chérie", which he co-wrote.
• March 6 – In the UK, 5,000 fans of the Beatles sign a petition urging British Prime minister Harold Wilson to reopen Liverpool's Cavern Club.
• March 14 – The Byrds release the psychedelic single "Eight Miles High" in the US. It is banned in several states due to allegations that the lyrics advocate drug use, yet reaches No.14 on the Billboard 100 charts.
• March 15 – The 8th Annual Grammy Awards are held in New York, hosted by Jerry Lewis. Roger Miller wins the most awards with five. Frank Sinatra's September of My Years wins Album of the Year, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass' version of "A Taste of Honey" wins Record of the Year and Tony Bennett's version of "The Shadow of Your Smile" wins Song of the Year. Tom Jones wins Best New Artist.
• April – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass set a world record by placing five albums simultaneously on Billboard's Pop Album Chart, with four of them the Top 10. Their music outsells The Beatles by a margin of two-to-one – over 13 million recordings. They win 4 Grammys this year.
• April 11 – First public performance in the Metropolitan Opera House, of Giacomo Puccini's La fanciulla del West, though the official opening of the new opera house will not take place until September 16.
• April 12 – In Los Angeles, California, Jan Berry, of Jan and Dean, crashes his Corvette into a truck that is parked on Whittier Boulevard. Berry slips into a two-month-long coma and suffers total physical paralysis for over a year as well as extensive brain damage.
• April 23 – For the first time since its January 18, 1964, issue, the Billboard Hot 100 chart fails to have an artist from the UK with a Top 10 single, ending a streak of 117 consecutive weeks.
• May 1 – The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who perform at the NME's poll winners' show at the Empire Pool (Wembley) in London. This will be The Beatles' last conventional live concert in Britain. The show is videotaped for later broadcast but The Beatles' and The Stones' segments are omitted because of union conflicts.
• May 6 – The first issue of Džuboks, the first Yugoslav magazine dedicated to rock music and the first rock magazine in a socialist country, is released.
• May 7 – The Rolling Stones release "Paint It, Black" in the US (May 13 in the UK); this becomes the first number one hit single in the US and UK to feature a sitar (played by Brian Jones).
• May 16 – Legendary album Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys is released in the US.
• May 17 – Bob Dylan and the Hawks (later The Band) perform at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England. Dylan is booed by the audience because of his decision to tour with an electric band, the boos culminating in the famous "Judas" shout.
• May 30 – Them, fronted by Van Morrison, begin a three-week stint as the headliner act at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood. On the last night June 18, they are joined on stage by that week's opening act The Doors. Van and Jim Morrison sing "Gloria" together.
• June 6 – 25-year-old Claudette Frady-Orbison, while motorcycle riding with her husband Roy Orbison, is killed when her motorcycle is struck by a pickup truck in Gallatin, Tennessee.
• June 18 – At a drunken gig at The Queen's College, Oxford in England, bassist/producer Paul Samwell-Smith quits The Yardbirds and star session guitarist Jimmy Page agrees to take over on bass.
• June 20 – Bob Dylan's album Blonde on Blonde is released in the US.
• June 27 – Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention's debut album, Freak Out!, is released in the US. It is an initial failure, but gains a massive cult following in subsequent years.
• July 2 – The Beatles become the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo. The performance ignites protests from local citizens who feel that it is inappropriate for a rock and roll band to play at Budokan.
• July 29 – Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. He is not seen in public for over a year.
• July 31 – The "supergroup" Cream, a trio featuring Eric Clapton (guitar), Ginger Baker (drums) and Jack Bruce (bass guitar, lead vocals) performs its first official concert at the Windsor (UK) Jazz & Blues Festival.
• August 1 – "Midsummer Serenades: A Mozart Festival" is held – the first Mostly Mozart Festival.
• August 5 – The Beatles release their album Revolver in the UK, expanding the year's psychedelic sound.
• August 11 – John Lennon holds a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, to apologize for his remarks the previous March. "I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus, I would have gotten away with it. I'm sorry I opened my mouth. I'm not anti-God, anti-Christ, or anti-religion. I was not knocking it. I was not saying we are greater or better."
• August 17 – The Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra becomes the first major overseas orchestra to perform at The Proms.
• August 24 – American rock band The Doors record their self-titled debut album.
• August 25 – The Yardbirds' lead guitarist Jeff Beck takes ill in San Francisco and Jimmy Page, who has been playing bass, takes over on lead guitar for the band's concert at the Carousel Ballroom.
• August 29
  • The Beatles perform their last official concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. The last number they play is Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally".
  • NBC airs the last episode of Hullabaloo, with Elvis Presley performing "Aud Lang Slyne" (the episode previously aired in April).
• September 12 – The first episode of The Monkees television series is broadcast on NBC in the US.
• September 16
  • The Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) opens in New York City with the première of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra. The opera is rejected by the critics.
  • Eric Burdon records a solo album after leaving The Animals and appears on the show Ready, Steady, Go, singing "Help Me Girl", a UK #14 solo hit. Also on the show are Otis Redding and Chris Farlowe.
• September 23 – The Yardbirds debut their twin lead guitar lineup, featuring Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, opening for The Rolling Stones 1966 UK tour. Also on the bill are Ike & Tina Turner, Peter Jay and the New Jaywalkers and Long John Baldry.
• September 24 – Jimi Hendrix arrives in London to record with producer/manager Chas Chandler.
• October 8 – WOR-FM in New York City becomes the first FM rock music station, under the leadership of DJ Murray The K.
• October 22 – With their album The Supremes A' Go-Go, The Supremes become the first all-female group to reach number one on the US Billboard 200.
• November 9 – John Lennon meets Yoko Ono when he attends a preview of her art exhibition at the Indica Gallery in London.
• November 15 – Japanese band The Tigers make their first television appearance, changing their name from "The Funnys" for the occasion.
• November 24 – The Beatles begin recording sessions for their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album at Abbey Road Studios in London.
• November 30 – The Yardbirds officially announce that Jeff Beck has left the band, leaving Jimmy Page as sole guitarist in the group, within which Page would plant the seeds of Led Zeppelin.
• December 6 – A Smile vocal overdub session by The Beach Boys for the song "Cabin Essence" becomes the scene of a climactic argument between member Mike Love and third-party lyricist Van Dyke Parks, causing him to gradually distance away from the project.
• December 9
  • The Who release their second album A Quick One with a nine-minute "mini-opera" "A Quick One While He's Away".
  • The Move release their debut single "Night of Fear".
• December 16 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience release their first single in the UK, "Hey Joe".
• December 17 – David Oppenheim films Brian Wilson at his home performing his composition "Surf's Up". The footage will later be used for CBS's Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution to be aired the next April.
• December 23–30 – The UFO Club opens in London, featuring psychedelic bands Pink Floyd and Soft Machine; and the films of Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger.
• 1966 dates unknown
  • Dalida receives, for a second time, the Music Hall Bravos.
  • Charley Pride is signed by RCA.
  • The Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales (Centre for Automatic and Mathematical Music) is founded in Paris by Iannis Xenakis.
  • Modern Assyrian music takes off when Albert Rouel Tamras releases his first records in Baghdad in 1966 on the Bashirphone label.
  • Conductor Herbert Kegel marries soprano Celestina Casapietra.
  • Pungmul music is recognized as an important Intangible Cultural Property in South Korea, under the title nongak sipicha (농악십이차, "twelve movements of farmers' music").

• See Category:Musical groups established in 1966

• See Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1966

from Billboard December 24, 1966 pg 34

Billboard's year-end list for 1966 included Hot 100 data from January to December 10, 1966, and used an early formula of awarding 100 points to the number one record, then ninety-nine points for number two, ninety-eight points for number three, and so on. The total points a record earned determined its year-end rank. Billboard soon realized the increase to 100 positions per week greatly diluted the accuracy of its chart, as opposed to twenty years ago, when charts had 10-30 positions. The impact of a no. 1 song scoring 20 points for no. 1 and 10 points for no. 10 (20 position chart) is huge compared to 100 points for no. 1 and 90 points for no. 10. A record with 8 weeks at no. 1 could have its advantage wiped out by the no. 10 record if it spent one additional week on the Hot 100, which is exactly what happened to the hottest artists, like the Beatles, Elvis, and others, whose records debuted at very high positions, quickly shot to the top, sold hundreds of thousands of records each week at no. 1, and then quiuckly dropped off the chart. An example is "We Can Work it Out", no. 49 on the 1966 year-end chart, despite three weeks at no. 1. However, it lost 155 points because its debut at no. 36 and second week at no. 11 fell on the last two weeks of December 1965, and Billboard did not count them. Three weeks at no.1 and seven weeks in the top 5 were of little ad vantage. However, by 1970, huge bonuses were being awarded to the no. 1 record each week, as Billboard searched for a better formula.

With 20-20 hindsight, the Billboard year-end chart for 1966 can be completed with archived issues of Billboard for November-December 1965 and November 1966-March 1967, and Joel Whitburn's Records Research books other Hot 100 Year-End formulas were used to complete the 1966 year-end chart. The completed chart is composed of records that entered the Billboard Hot 100 between November 1965 and December 1966. Records with chart runs that started in 1965 and ended in 1966, or started in 1966 and ended in 1967, made this chart if the majority of their chart weeks were in 1966. If not, they were ranked in the year-end charts for 1965 or 1967. If their weeks were equal, they were listed in the year they first entered. Appearing in multiple years is not permitted. Each week thirty points were awarded to the number one record, then nineteen points for number two, eighteen points for number three, and so on down to number twenty. The total points a record earned determined its year-end rank. The complete chart life of each record is represented, with number of points accrued. There are no ties, even when multiple records have the same number of points. The next ranking category is peak chart position, then weeks at peak chart position, weeks in top ten, weeks in top forty, and finally weeks on Hot 100 chart.

The chart can be sorted by Artist, Song title, Recording and Release dates, Cashbox year-end ranking (CB) or units sold (sales) by clicking on the column header. Additional details for each record can be accessed by clicking on the song title, and referring to the Infobox in the right column of the song page. Billboard also has chart summaries on its website. Cashbox rankings were derived by same process as the Billboard rankings. Sales information was derived from the RIAA's Gold and Platinum database, the BRIT Certified database and The Book of Golden Discs,[3] but numbers listed should be regarded as estimates. Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry information with sources can be found on Wikipedia.

   Billboard Top Soul Singles 1966

   Billboard Top Country Singles 1966

| Top Easy Listening Singles 1966

   Top Rock Tracks 1966 (unofficial)

Winter

• "Keep On Running" – The Spencer Davis Group
• "Michelle" – The Overlanders
• "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" – The Walker Brothers

Spring

• "Somebody Help Me" – The Spencer Davis Group
• "Pretty Flamingo" – Manfred Mann

Summer

• "Sunny Afternoon" – The Kinks
• "Get Away" – Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames
• "With a Girl Like You" – The Troggs
• "All or Nothing" – Small Faces

Autumn

• "Distant Drums" – Jim Reeves
• "Green, Green Grass of Home" – Tom Jones

Louis Armstrong in 1966

Sonny & Cher, 1966

(Not all of these were necessarily released as singles.)

• "Alfie" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach from the film Alfie
• "Big Spender" w. Dorothy Fields m. Cy Coleman from the musical Sweet Charity
• "If I Were a Carpenter" w.m. Tim Hardin
• "The Rhythm of Life" w. Dorothy Fields m. Cy Coleman from the musical Sweet Charity
• "Sunny" w.m. Bobby Hebb
• "Wedding Bell Blues" w.m. Laura Nyro

• "Ces Gens-Là" by Jacques Brel
• "La maison où j'ai grandi" ("Il ragazzo della via Gluck") by Adriano Celentano, French lyrics by Eddy Marnay
• "Nessuno Mi Può Giudicare/Lei Mi Aspetta" by Gene Pitney[10]
• "La Poupée qui fait non" by Franck Gérald (words) and Michel Polnareff (music)
• "Parce Que Tu Crois" by Charles Aznavour
• "Les sucettes" by Serge Gainsbourg

• Samuel Barber – Antony and Cleopatra
• Vittorio Giannini – Servant of Two Masters
• Jorge Peña Hen – La Cenicienta (Cinderella)[16]
• Mark Kopytman – Casa Mare
• Peter Westergaard – Mr and Mrs Discobbolos
• Grace Williams – The Parlour

• The Apple Tree – Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre and ran for 463 performances
• Breakfast at Tiffany's – Broadway-bound production (closed in previews)
• Cabaret (John Kander & Fred Ebb) – Broadway production opened at the Broadhurst Theatre and ran for 1,165 performances
• Funny Girl (Jule Styne and Bob Merrill) – London production
• I Do! I Do! – Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 560 performances
• It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman – Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre and ran for 129 performances
• The Mad Show – Off-Broadway production
• Mame – Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 1,508 performances
• The Penny Friend – Off-Broadway production
• Sweet Charity (Music: Cy Coleman Lyrics: Dorothy Fields Book: Neil Simon) – Broadway production opened at the Palace Theatre and ran for 608 performances[17]
• Wait a Minim! – Off-Broadway production

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
• Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, with music by Usha Khanna
• Bhimanjaneya Yuddham, with music by T. V. Raju[18]
• Dancing the Sirtaki[19]
• Dus Lakh
• Fiebre de juventud, starring Enrique Guzmán[20]
• The Glass Bottom Boat starring Doris Day
• Hold On! starring Herman's Hermits
• Mera Saaya
• Nichigeki [Kayama Yuzo sho] yori–utau wakadaisho, starring Yūzō Kayama (concert film)
• Paradise, Hawaiian Style starring Elvis Presley
• Stop the World – I Want to Get Off
• The Big T.N.T. Show (concert film)

• Brigadoon starring Robert Goulet and Sally Ann Howes

• January 1 – Crazy Legs, Puerto Rican breakdancer (Rock Steady Crew)
• January 3 – Martin Galway, Northern Irish composer
• January 4 – Deana Carter, American country singer-songwriter, musician
• January 5 – Kate Schellenbach, American punk rock drummer (Luscious Jackson) and television producer
• January 6
  • Sharon Cuneta, Filipina singer and TV personality
  • A. R. Rahman, Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician and philanthropist
• January 7 – Ehab Tawfik, Egyptian singer
• January 8 – Andrew Wood, singer (Mother Love Bone) (died 1990)
• January 14 – Marko Hietala, Finnish rock bassist (Nightwish)
• January 16 – Maxine Jones, American singer-songwriter and actress (En Vogue)
• January 17 – Shabba Ranks, dancehall artist
• January 20
  • Tracii Guns, American guitarist
  • Wes King, guitarist, singer
• January 21 – Wendy James, British rock singer (Transvision Vamp)
• January 25 – Samvel Yervinyan, Armenian violinist and composer
• January 30 – Hans Tutschku, German composer
• February 2 – Robert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots and Army of Anyone
• February 6 – Rick Astley, English singer-songwriter and radio personality
• February 9 – Rachel Bolan (Skid Row)
• February 11 – Tenor Saw, dancehall artist (died 1988)
• February 12 – Paul Crook, American guitarist (Anthrax)
• February 26 – Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
• March 2 – Howard Bernstein, producer
• March 3
  • Tone-Loc, rapper
  • Mikal Blue, English music producer, songwriter, engineer and mixer, collabotor with Colbie Caillat
• March 4 – Grand Puba, American rapper (Brand Nubian)
• March 7 – Atsushi Sakurai, Japanese singer (Buck-Tick)
• March 10 – Edie Brickell, singer-songwriter
• March 12 – David Daniels, countertenor
• March 18 – Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains
• March 19 – Anja Rupel, singer
• March 21 – DJ Premier, record producer
• March 25 – Jeff Healey, Canadian guitarist (died 2008)
• April 2 – Garnett Silk, reggae singer (died 1994)
• April 11 – Lisa Stansfield, singer
• April 13 – Marc Ford (The Black Crowes)
• April 15 – Samantha Fox, British model and singer
• April 18 – Ana Voog, singer-songwriter
• April 21 – Michael Franti, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Beatnigs and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy)
• April 28 – Too Short, rapper
• May 1 – Anne Fletcher, American film director and choreographer
• May 8
  • Blag Dahlia, American musician, producer and author
  • Marta Sánchez, vocalist and entertainer
• May 10 – Wade Domínguez, American actor, model, singer and dancer (died 1998)
• May 11 – Christoph Schneider, German rock musician (Rammstein)
• May 12 – Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian popular singer
• May 13
  • Alison Goldfrapp, English musician and record producer (Goldfrapp)
  • Darius Rucker (Hootie & the Blowfish)
  • Jeffrey Scott Holland, American artist and musician
• May 14 – Raphael Saadiq, singer-songwriter and record producer
• May 16 – Janet Jackson, African American singer-songwriter, dancer and actress
• May 19 – Neil Campbell, Scottish-born experimental musician
• May 22 – Johnny Gill, African American R&B singer-songwriter (New Edition)
• May 24 – Ella Guru, American painter and musician
• May 26 – Tommy Stewart (Godsmack)
• May 27 – Titi DJ, Indonesian pop singer
• May 28 – Theo Bleckmann, German vocalist and composer
• May 30 – Stephen Malkmus, American rock singer (Pavement)
• June 4 – Cecilia Bartoli, operatic mezzo-soprano
• June 6
  • Aadesh Shrivastava, composer and singer
  • Sean Yseult, American bass player (White Zombie and The Cramps)
• June 8
  • Jens Kidman, Swedish musician
  • Doris Pearson, R&B singer (Five Star)
• June 14 – Matt Freeman, bassist (Rancid)
• June 15 – Roberto Carnevale, Italian musician
• June 22 – Schooly D, American rapper
• June 24 – Hope Sandoval, American singer-songwriter (Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions)
• June 26 – Jürgen Reil, German drummer (Kreator)
• June 28 – Bobby Bare, Jr., American musician
• July 7 – Gundula Krause, German violinist
• July 9 – Gayle and Gillian Blakeney, Australian actresses and singers
• July 11 – Melanie Appleby, Mel and Kim (died 1990)
• July 12
  • Taiji, Japanese bass player and songwriter (Loudness and X Japan) (died 2011)
  • Misato Watanabe, Japanese singer
• July 13 – Gerald Levert, American singer (died 2006)
• July 14 – Tanya Donelly, American musician
• July 15 – Jason Bonham, drummer
• July 17
  • Lou Barlow, American guitarist and songwriter (Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion)
  • Keith Elam, rapper & producer
• July 20 – Stone Gossard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad, Temple of the Dog and Green River)
• July 29 – Martina McBride, American country singer
• August 11 – Juan Maria Solare, composer
• August 16 – Emanuel Kiriakou, American songwriter, producer, record executive, music publisher and multi-instrumentalist,
• August 19
  • Lilian Garcia, American singer and wrestling ring announcer
  • Lee Ann Womack, singer
• August 20 – Dimebag Darrell, American rock guitarist (Pantera) (died 2004)
• August 22 – GZA/Genius, rapper
• August 25
  • Derek Sherinian, American keyboardist
  • Terminator X, DJ
• August 26 – Shirley Manson, Scottish rock musician (Garbage)
• August 30 – Marvin McQuitty, American gospel drummer (died 2012)
• September 2 – Yu Hayami, Japanese pop idol singer
• September 4 – Yanka Dyagileva, Russian singer
• September 5 – Terry Ellis (En Vogue)
• September 8 – Carola Häggkvist, Swedish pop singer
• September 10 – Robin Goodridge (Bush)
• September 12 – Ben Folds, singer-songwriter
• September 17 – Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer and beatboxer
• September 20 – Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)
• September 22 – Moustafa Amar, Egyptian pop star
• October 2 – Mousse T., DJ
• October 12 – Brian Kennedy, Irish musician and author
• October 15 – Eric Benét, gospel singer
• October 18
  • Tim Cross, Sponge
  • Bill Stewart, American jazz drummer
• October 19 – Sinitta, singer and actress
• October 23 – Skúli Sverrisson, Icelandic composer and bassist
• October 31
  • Annabella Lwin, vocalist (Bow Wow Wow)
  • Ad-Rock, Beastie Boys
• November 6 – Paul Gilbert, American musician
• November 11 – Peaches, born Merrill Nisker, Canadian electronic musician and performance artist
• November 14 – Charles Hazlewood, English orchestral conductor
• November 16 – Christian Lorenz, keyboard player
• November 17
  • Jeff Buckley, singer-songwriter (died 1997)
  • Soup the Chemist, born Christopher Jose Cooper, pioneering American Christian hip hop rapper
  • Kate Ceberano, Australian singer and actress
• November 20 – Kevin Gilbert (musician), American singer, composer and instrumentalist
• November 23 – Charlie Grover (Sponge)
• November 24 – Joseph "DJ Run" Simmons, Run D.M.C.
• November 25 – Stacy Lattisaw, singer
• December 4 – Masta Ace, rapper
• December 8 – Sinéad O'Connor, Irish pop singer-songwriter, priest, activist (died 2023)
• December 9 – Michael Foster, drummer for rock band FireHouse
• December 11 – Leon Lai, Hong Kong singer and actor
• December 12
  • Pops Fernandez, Filipina singer and TV personality
  • Greg Long, contemporary Christian musician
• December 20 – Chris Robinson, vocalist (The Black Crowes)
• December 29 – Dexter Holland of The Offspring

• January 29 – Pierre Mercure, Canadian bassoon player and composer, 39
• February 9 – Sophie Tucker, blues singer, 82
• February 10 – Billy Rose, impresario, 66
• February 13 – Marguerite Long, pianist, 87
• February 23 – Billy Kyle, jazz pianist, 51
• March – Mohamed El Qasabgi, composer
• March 29 – Jazz Gillum, harmonica player, 61 (shot)
• March 30 – Jelly d'Arányi, violinist, 72
• April 3 – Russel Crouse, librettist, 73
• April 19 – Javier Solís, Mexican ranchera and bolero singer, 34 (complications following gall bladder surgery)
• April 30 – Richard Fariña, folk singer, 29 (motorcycle accident)
• May 13 – Henrik Adam Due, violinist, music teacher, 75
• June 1 – Papa Jack Laine, bandleader, 92
• June 12 – Hermann Scherchen, conductor, 74
• June 17 – Johnny St. Cyr, jazz musician, 76
• July 3 – Deems Taylor, composer and music critic, 80
• July 18 – Bobby Fuller, singer and guitarist, 23 (possible suicide or murder)
• July 31 – Bud Powell, jazz pianist, 41
• August 2 – Boyd Raeburn, jazz musician, 52 (heart attack)
• August 2 or 3 – Tristan Klingsor, poet, painter and musician, 91
• August 4 – Helen Tamiris, dancer and choreographer, 61
• August 15 – Jan Kiepura, Polish tenor and actor, 64
• September 17 – Fritz Wunderlich, tenor, 35 (fell downstairs)
• September 26 – Helen Kane, singer, 62
• September 28 – Lucius "Lucky" Millinder, US bandleader, 56 (liver disease)
• October 3 – Dave Lambert, jazz musician, 49 (road accident)
• October 7
  • Johnny Kidd, British singer, 30 (car accident)
  • Smiley Lewis, R&B musician, 53 (stomach cancer)
• October 12 – Arthur Lourié, composer, 74
• October 26 – Alma Cogan, English singer, 34 (stomach cancer)
• October 17 – Karel Hruška, operatic tenor, 75
• October 29 – Wellman Braud, jazz musician, 75
• November 1
  • Alexis Roland-Manuel, composer, 75
  • Dick Roberts, guitar and banjo player, 69
• November 2 – Mississippi John Hurt, blues musician, 73 or 74
• November 6 – Washboard Sam, blues musician, 56 (heart disease)
• November 12 – Quincy Porter, composer, 69
• November 28 – Vittorio Giannini, opera composer, 63
• December 1 – Carter Stanley, bluegrass musician, half of The Stanley Brothers, 41 (alcohol-related)
• December 3 – Kui Lee, singer-songwriter, 34 (gland cancer)
• December 9 – Yuri Shaporin, composer, 79
• December 12 – Nellie Briercliffe, singer and actress with the D'Oyly Carte company, 77
• December 14 – Shailendra, lyricist, 43
• December 24 – Gaspar Cassadó, cellist and composer, 69

• Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1966

• Whitburn, Joel. Billboard Top 10 Singles Charts 1955–2000 (2001)