August 31 Musicians Who Died on August 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1604 Giovanale Ancina, Italian priest and composer, dies of purported poisoning at 58 1616 Gemignano Capilupi, Italian choral music composer, dies at 43 1631 Nicolaus Erich, German composer, dies at 43 1638 John Ward, British madrigal and religious music composer, dies at 67 1667 Johann von Rist, German composer and poet known for his hymns, dies at 60 1730 Gottfried Finger, Moravian violist and Baroque composer dies at about 65 [born c. 1655-56] 1795 François-André Danican Philidor, French composer and chess champion, dies at 68 1805 Joseph Abaco, Italian composer, dies at 95 1832 Jean Nicolas Auguste Kreutzer, French violinist and composer, dies at 53 1862 Ignaz Assmayer, Austrian organist and liturgical composer, dies at 72 1902 Mathilde Wesendonck (née Luckemeyer), German writer, poet (Tagebuchblatter), and object of composer Richard Wagner's infatuation, dies at 73 1910 Emīls Dārziņš, Latvian composer (Melanholiskais valsis - Melancholic waltz), and music critic, dies when struck by a train at 34 1940 Johanna "Annie" Bakker, Dutch revue-artist, singer and actress, dies at 58 1946 Paul August von Klenau, Danish opera composer, and conductor, dies at 63 1949 Paul Höffer, German composer (Olympic Arts gold, 1936), dies at 53 1969 Ottmar Gerster, German composer (rector of the Liszt Music Academy in Weimar), dies at 72 1994 Artur Balsam, Polish-American pianist, dies at 88 1994 Norman "Doc" Jones, American jazz bass player (Jo Jo Parnell Trio), dies at 68 1996 Milt Larkin, American jazz trumpeter and bandleader, dies at 85 2002 Lionel Hampton, American Jazz vibraphone player, pianist, drummer, and actor, dies from congestive heart failure at 94 2003 Jaap Geraedts, Dutch composer, dies at 79 2004 Carl Wayne [Colin Tooley], British rock singer (The Move), and actor, dies of esophageal cancer at 61 2008 Jerry Reed, American country music singer ("When You're Hot, You're Hot") and actor (Bat 21; Smokey and the Bandit), dies of complications from emphysema at 71 2009 Maria de Lourdes Martins, Portuguese pianist and composer, dies at 83 2016 Jacques Leduc, Belgian composer, dies at 84 2018 Gloria Jean [Schoonover], American actress (Never Give a Sucker an Even Break), and singer, dies at 92 2019 Wim Statius Muller, Curaçaoa conductor, pianist, and composer, dies at 89 2023 Curtis Fowlkes, American jazz and session trombonist, singer, and band leader (The Jazz Passengers; Lounge Lizards), dies at 73