On Tuesday, ZZ Top announced the death of their longtime drummer Frank Beard. The percussionist’s death on Aug. 17 at 77 follows that of original bass player Dusty Hill, who died in 2021, leaving singer-guitarist Billy F. Gibbons as the sole member of the Texas band’s classic lineup. The group said it was canceling a pair of shows scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, but that they’ll return to the road this weekend for two concerts in Austin, “one of Frank’s favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him.”
When ZZ Top play those shows at the ACL Live at the Moody Theater on Saturday and Sunday, they’ll do so with Elwood Francis on bass and Michael Monahan on drums. But the Top’s last gig with its original lineup took place on July 18, 2021, at Louisville, Kentucky’s Iroquois Amphitheater.
They played a 15-song set that night centered largely around their hits, including “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “La Grange,” and “Legs.” Here is fan-shot video of “Tush,” the final song of the group’s set.
That show marked the end of one of the single most enduring lineups in the history of rock & roll. ZZ Top’s first album in 1971 was created by Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill, and that trio remained rock solid for 50 years. That’s an absolutely astounding feat when you consider that most rock groups of that era have shifted lineups countless times.
“It’s a cliché and sounds so simplistic, but it’s down to the three of us genuinely enjoying playing together,” Hill said in 2014. “We still love it, and we still get a kick out of being onstage. We also have enough in common to maintain a bond between us, but sufficient differences to keep our individuality. And after all this time, we all know what winds up the others and what makes them the people they are.”
ZZ Top will never be the same after the deaths of Hill and Beard, but they are carrying on. “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” has dates booked into November.
[This story was updated on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with news of Frank Beard’s death.]
