At around 9:00 a.m. on the morning of October 2, 1985, Hudson died in his sleep from AIDS-related complications at his home in Beverly Crest at age 59, less than seven weeks before what would have been his 60th birthday. Hudson requested that no funeral be held. His body was cremated hours after his death and a cenotaph later was established at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cathedral City, California. His ashes were scattered in the channel between Wilmington, Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island.