- Oct 2 Big Jim Sullivan [Tomkins], British session and touring rock guitarist, sitar, and banjo player, dies of heart disease and diabetes at 71
- Oct 3 (Kathryn) "Kathi" McDonald, American blues and rock singer (Ike & Tina Turner Revue; Big Brother & The Holding Company), and songwriter, dies at 64
- Oct 3 Francis Burt, British composer, and educator (Musikhochschule Wien, 1974-92), dies at 86
- Oct 5 Edvard Mirzoyan, Armenian composer, dies at 91
- Oct 7 John Tchicai, Danish jazz saxophonist and composer (New York Art Quartet), dies at 76
- Oct 9 Theo Olof, German-Dutch violinist and concert master, dies at 88
- Oct 15 Axel Borup-Jørgensen, composer (Nordisk Sommerpastorale; Thalatta! Thalatta!), dies at 87
- Oct 18 David Spencer Ware, American free jazz saxophonist, dies at 62
- Oct 27 Hans Werner Henze, German composer, dies at 86
- Oct 27 Terry Callier, American soul, folk and jazz guitarist, and singer-songwriter ("What Color Is Love"), dies of cancer at 67