Sabian announced Zildjian's death on its website Thursday. The firm was closed until Monday and the company announcement had no details about his death.
Zildjian founded Sabian in 1981 after a legal battle with his brother, Armand, over their inheritance of the family business, Avedis Zildjian Co., a major cymbal maker. The companies remain competitors.
The family's U.S. business was founded in the Boston area in 1928 by their father, Armenian immigrant Avedis Zildjian, and a great-uncle. The rock 'n' roll era brought an expanding demand for its percussion products.
RZ Zildjian began working for his father as a teenager and set up a subsidiary, AZCO, in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1968.
