Billy May, a highly acclaimed band leader, composer and arranger who spun to popularity on the nation's jukeboxes, died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. He was 87.

Actually, it was what the music industry calls a "new sound" or "fresh approach" that placed Mr. May among the top recording stars. His recording of an old tune, "Always," with a slurring saxophone section, did the trick.

Mr. May's wife, Doris, said he arranged music for vocalist Keely Smith's "Keely Sings Sinatra" recording and performed concerts in England and Scotland shortly before his retirement in 1997.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1916, Mr. May grew up in Lawrenceville and played tuba in the Schenley High School band. He graduated in 1935.

During the Depression years, Mr. May dreamed of a musical career, as did his two childhood friends, Billy Strayhorn and Erroll Garner. The trio often met in East Liberty to work out some arrangements.

"The first time I heard Billy was in 1935 at a 'High-Y' dance at Schenley High School," said trombonist and bandleader Jack Purcell. "He was playing tuba, and about halfway through the dance he stepped up to the front of the stage and played a chorus from Duke Ellington's recording of 'Solitude.' I was just amazed.

"He was extremely talented. He bought a trumpet from a pawn shop for $20 and started playing trumpet."

Dixieland bassist Emil Brenkus reminisced about a time when Mr. May had just completed a job on a Baron Elliott radio broadcast on WJAS in Pittsburgh. Elliott asked Mr. May where his tuxedo was, knowing the group had another show later that night. He opened his trombone case, Brenkus recalled, and retrieved a folded tuxedo.

"He was one fine arranger," said Brenkus, who shared lunch and a few laughs with Mr. May whenever he returned to Pittsburgh. "He always had a soft feeling for Pittsburgh."

In 1938, Mr. May became the trumpet player and arranger for Charlie Barnet's Orchestra, penning such classics as "Redskin Rhumba" and "Cherokee." The latter became Barnet's signature song.

After a stint as trumpeter with Glenn Miller's band, Mr. May bolted for Hollywood and soon after became conductor and composer. During this time, he also wrote arrangements for the Les Brown, Woody Herman and Alvino Rey orchestras.

During the 1950s, he led his own band, which scored successes with his own arrangements of "All of Me," "Lulu's Back in Town," "Charmaine," and "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street."

"I picked it up myself," is the way Mr. May accounted for his orchestration techniques. Around this time, Mr. May began arranging and conducting for a number of extremely popular artists, including Frank Sinatra. He arranged the music to Sinatra's famous 1958 recording of "Come Fly With Me."

Besides his wife, Mr. May is survived by daughters, Cynthia May, Laureen Mitchell, Joannie Ransom and Sandra Gregory; and a brother, John of Franklin Park.