ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard, who played with the band for well over 50 years, has died. The group confirmed the news on Instagram today, August 18. Beard was 77.
“Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas,” ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons shared in a statement today. “His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.” The band, which is currently in the midst of a US tour, has canceled upcoming shows in Salt Lake City (August 18) and Colorado Springs (August 19). They’ll resume the run with two dates at Austin City Limits in October, which their post called “one of Frank’s favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him.”
Beard joined ZZ Top in 1969, just shortly after the group was founded by Gibbons. Beard also introduced the group to longtime bassist Dusty Hill, who died in 2021. Beard’s mastery of the Texas shuffle was the backbone of hits like “La Grange” and “Tush,” and he continued to perform with the group even as his health declined in recent years. (Earlier this month, the band canceled a Hollywood Bowl show due to “insurmountable obstacles” later revealed to be related to Beard’s condition.)
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