- May 1 Sharon Redd, American house music and urban contemporary singer (b. 1945)
- May 2 Joey Cuevas, American movie dancer, dies at 34
- May 2 Margareth Wallmann, Austrian opera director, dies at 88
- May 3 Elizabeth Lennox, radio singer, dies of heart seizure at 98
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992)
May 6 German American actress and singer (The Blue Angel, Shanghai Express), dies in Paris at 90
- May 10 Joan Merrill, American pop vocalist, dies of a stroke at 74
- May 10 Sylvia Syms [Blagman], American jazz and cabaret singer and actress ("I Could Have Danced All Night"; South Pacific - "Bloody May"), dies of a heart attack at 74
- May 15 Barbara Lee, American pop singer (Chiffons - He's So Fine; Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?), dies at 44
- May 16 Chalino Sánchez, Mexican musician, murdered at 31
- May 17 Lawrence Welk, American accordionist and orchestra leader (Lawrence Welk Show), dies of pneumonia at 89
- May 17 Leonardo del Ferro [Keyser], American operatic tenor, dies at 71
- May 19 Hans Vogt, German composer, dies at 81
- May 22 Gyorgy Ranki, Hungarian composer, dies at 84
- May 23 Atahualpa Yupanqui, Argentine singer, composer, and guitarist, dies at 84
- May 26 George Morrow, American jazz double-bassist (Max Roach and Clifford Brown; Sonny Rollins), dies at 66
- May 29 Peter "Ollie" Halsall, British rock guitarist and vibraphone player (Patto; The Rutles; Kevin Ayers), dies of a heart attack at 43
- May 29 Rudolf Alberth, German conductor, and composer, dies at 74
- May 30 Leen 't Hart, Dutch organist and composer, dies at 72
- May 31 Karl-Erik Welin, Swedish composer, dies at 58