Billy Jack Wills; Led Popular Western Band

Billy Jack Wills, the youngest of the Wills brothers who helped shape Western music history, died Saturday in a Shawnee, Okla., hospital at age 65 of undisclosed causes.

Wills was the third member of his family to have a band. The first was Bob Wills, whose Texas Playboys became synonymous with Western swing. Another brother, Johnny Lee Wills, led a band in Tulsa.

Billy Jack Wills played bass and drums in the 1940s with the Playboys and in the 1950s, established his band, which became popular in California.

When television and rock ‘n’ roll began to emerge, Wills moved to Shawnee and became a plumber.