DEC. 15 I ZEB BILLINGS I TRIBUTE
Zeb Billings Passes Away

Zeb Billings passed away on Dec. 6 from complications related to congestive heart failure. He was 80.

In 1956, Billings opened Pianos & Organs in Milwaukee, and in the early '60s, he produced his own weekly television variety show, propelling the success of his store. Later, Billings launched Billings Sight & Sound Music Publishing, which he started when he got the idea to include packets of sheet music in the bench of every organ he sold. He later sold the company to Hal Leonard.

Billings also developed the first children's books to use recorded sound buttons and obtained licenses for characters from Disney, Warner Bros. and Sesame Street. That business was later sold to Western Publishing, known as Golden Books.

"It has been gratifying to receive condolences from Dad's friends in the industry all over the world," said Greg Billings, Zeb's son and the owner of Steinway Piano Gallery in Naples, Fla.

Grant Billings, Zeb's grandson, runs Steinway Piano Gallery in Madison, Wis.