ZZ Top’s performance at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater was canceled a week ago due to Beard’s severely deteriorated health. His death and the band’s final days are also reported by MusicRadar.com.
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Beard played for more than five decades in the classic ZZ Top lineup alongside guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons and bassist and vocalist Dusty Hill. After Hill’s death in 2021, his place in the band was taken by longtime technician Elwood Francis – a decision Hill himself requested before his death.
The only remaining original member, Gibbons, said goodbye to his longtime friend and stage partner. He wrote that today Elwood and he lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a true son of Texas. According to Gibbons, Beard’s distinctive rhythm was one of the key reasons ZZ Top stayed at the top. He also emphasized that the band, to which Beard devoted six decades, will continue to live on as the drummer himself would have wanted.
Although Beard officially returned to the band last year after previous health issues, he did not participate in recent concerts. His place was temporarily taken by substitute drummer Michael Monahan.
ZZ Top was formed in the Texas blues and rock scene in the late 1960s. Over their career, the band released 15 studio albums, and their record sales are estimated to be around 50 million copies.
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In 1975, Billy Gibbons said the band formed in 1970. He met Frank Beard through an acquaintance from Dallas. After one performance, Beard suggested Gibbons meet the drummer he had in mind. That drummer was Beard himself, with whom Gibbons soon started playing.
When their acquaintance from Dallas left, the band needed a bassist. Beard knew Dusty Hill and suggested inviting him. Gibbons later learned that Beard and Hill had been playing together for about five years before that.
Beard himself, who rarely spoke in detail in interviews, recalled his first meeting with Gibbons. A guy from Houston told him about the guitarist. When they met in the same room, they just started playing a simple blues rhythm. Beard remembered that the music sounded so good immediately that he didn’t want to let Gibbons go – he made him play together for a full eight hours. According to Beard, by the time they finally stopped, both already knew they had a band.
After Beard’s death, ZZ Top canceled the next two concerts. However, as stated in the band’s management statement, the musicians plan to continue the ongoing “The Big One!” tour over the weekend and perform two shows at the Austin City Limits festival. This is one of Beard’s favorite concert venues and a city that had become like a second home to him.
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