On This Day in Music: October 23

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2026-10-23

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Standout moments for this date.

Al Jolson, [Asa Yoelson], singer/actor (Jazz Singer), dies at 64

Weird Al Yankovic [Alfred Matthew]

Weird Al Yankovic [Alfred Matthew], California, parody singer (Eat It, UHF, Naked Gun) was born

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1846-10-23 Birth

Alexander Andreyevich Archangel'sky

Alexander Andreyevich Archangel'sky, composer was born

1905-10-23 Birth

Alexander Shamil'yevich Melik-Pashayev

Alexander Shamil'yevich Melik-Pashayev, composer was born

1928-10-23 Birth

Alexander Tanev

Alexander Tanev, composer was born

1939-10-23 Birth

Charlie Foxx

Charlie Foxx, US songwriter/soul singer (Mockingbird) was born

1951-10-23 Birth

Charly GarcÃa

Charly GarcÃa, Argentine singer was born

1967-10-23 Birth

Dale Crover

Dale Crover, American musician (Melvins, The Men of Porn, Altamont) was born

1956-10-23 Birth

Dwight Yoakam

Dwight Yoakam, Pikeville Ky, country singer (Honky Tonk Man) was born

1939-10-23 Birth

Ellie Greenwich

Ellie Greenwich, rocker was born

1987-10-23 Birth

Faye Hamlin

Faye Hamlin, Swedish singer (Play) was born

1940-10-23 Birth

Freddie Marsden

Freddie Marsden, Liverpool, rock drummer (Gerry & The Pacemakers) was born

1946-10-23 Birth

Gerda Lenten-Havertong

Gerda Lenten-Havertong, Surinam, Dutch singer/actress (Sesame St) was born

1947-10-23 Birth

Greg Ridley

Greg Ridley, rocker was born

1851-10-23 Birth

Guillaume Couture

Guillaume Couture, composer was born

1801-10-23 Birth

Gustav Albert Lortzing

Gustav Albert Lortzing, composer was born

1950-10-23 Birth

Harry Sacksioni

Harry Sacksioni, Dutch guitarist (Around the Corner) was born

1819-10-23 Birth

Isac Baker Woodbury

Isac Baker Woodbury, composer was born

1869-10-23 Birth

Jacobus H "Koos" Speenhoff

Jacobus H "Koos" Speenhoff, Dutch singer was born

1893-10-23 Birth

Jean Absil

Jean Absil, Belgian composer (Peau d'Ane) was born

1654-10-23 Birth

Johann Bernhard Staudt

Johann Bernhard Staudt, composer was born

1794-10-23 Birth

Joseph Panny

Joseph Panny, composer was born

1945-10-23 Birth

Kim Larsen

Kim Larsen, Danish singer was born

1925-10-23 Birth

Manos Hadjidakis

Manos Hadjidakis, Greek composer/conductor (Never on Sunday) was born

1949-10-23 Birth

Michael 'Wurzel' Burston

Michael 'Wurzel' Burston, British musician (MotÃ¶rhead) was born

1903-10-23 Birth

Milford Dolliole

Milford Dolliole, pioneer jazz drummer was born

1906-10-23 Birth

Miriam Gideon

Miriam Gideon, composer was born

1923-10-23 Birth

Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem, Richmond Indiana, composer/author (Sky Music) was born

1902-10-23 Birth

Otmar Nussio

Otmar Nussio, composer was born

1902-10-23 Birth

Otto J Gombosi

Otto J Gombosi, Hungarian/US musicologist was born

1928-10-23 Birth

Patrick Peter Sacco

Patrick Peter Sacco, composer was born

1952-10-23 Birth

Pierre Moerlen

Pierre Moerlen, French drummer and percussionist (d. 2005) was born

1773-10-23 Birth

Pietro Generali

Pietro Generali, composer was born

1990-10-23 Birth

Stevie Brock

Stevie Brock, American singer was born

1959-10-23 Birth

Weird Al Yankovic [Alfred Matthew]

Weird Al Yankovic [Alfred Matthew], California, parody singer (Eat It, UHF, Naked Gun) was born

1935-10-23 Birth

Zbigniew Rudzinski

Zbigniew Rudzinski, composer was born

2002-10-23 Death

Adolph Green

Adolph Green, American lyricist and playwright (b. 1915)

1950-10-23 Death

Al Jolson

Al Jolson, [Asa Yoelson], singer/actor (Jazz Singer), dies at 64

1996-10-23 Death

Alexander Kelly

Alexander Kelly, pianist/teacher, dies at 67

1753-10-23 Death

Columban Praelisauer

Columban Praelisauer, composer, dies at 50

1948-10-23 Death

Eugeniusz Morawsky-Dabrowa

Eugeniusz Morawsky-Dabrowa, composer, dies at 71

1806-10-23 Death

Franz Seydelmann

Franz Seydelmann, composer, dies at 58

1954-10-23 Death

Henri Zagwijn

Henri Zagwijn, composer, dies at 76

1982-10-23 Death

Jacques Klein

Jacques Klein, Brazilian pianist, dies at 52

1869-10-23 Death

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque, Belgian composer, dies at 72

1801-10-23 Death

Johann Gottlieb Naumann

Johann Gottlieb Naumann, German composer, dies at 60

1886-10-23 Death

Johann Nepomuk Kafka

Johann Nepomuk Kafka, composer, dies at 67

1782-10-23 Death

Joseph Reipel

Joseph Reipel, composer, dies at 73

1976-10-23 Death

Leonard Lee

Leonard Lee, US R&B-singer (Shirley & Lee-I'm Gone), dies at 40

1978-10-23 Death

Maybelle Carter

Maybelle Carter, country singer (Johnny Cash Show), dies at 69

1942-10-23 Death

Ralph Rainger

Ralph Rainger, composer, dies at 41

1969-10-23 Death

Tommy Edwards

Tommy Edwards, rocker, dies at 47

2003-10-23 Death

Tony Capstick

Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician (b. 1944)

1925-10-23 Death

Vyacheslav Gavrilovich Karatigin

Vyacheslav Gavrilovich Karatigin, composer, dies at 50

1890-10-23 Event

Alexander Borodin

Opera "Prince Igor" is produced (St Petersburg)

1921-10-23 Event

Leos Janacek

Leos Janacek's opera "Kat'a Kabanova" premieres in Brno

1942-10-23 Event

Ralph Rainger

All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger

1919-10-23 Event

Sigmund Romberg

Romberg & Atteridge's musical "Passing Show," premieres in NYC