From left: Frank Beard, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top before performing at the Arizona State Fair in Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 4, 2005. Beard, whose drumming propelled the music of the hit-making Texas power trio ZZ Top for more than a half-century, died on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. He was 77. (Jeff Topping/The New York Times)
Share
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Frank Beard, whose drumming propelled the music of the hit-making Texas power trio ZZ Top for more than a half-century, died Monday. He was 77.
Beard’s bandmate Billy Gibbons announced the death on social media. He did not cite a cause or say where Beard died.
“Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator,” Gibbons wrote, referring to Elwood Francis, ZZ Top’s bassist since 2021, “and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.”
Starting in the early 1970s, ZZ Top’s powerful blend of boogie, Southern rock and blues made them arena rock stars. The band found a new level of fame in the 1980s, after Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill grew their signature 20-inch beards and produced a series of synthesizer-driven singles — notably “Legs” and “Sharp-Dressed Man” — that entered heavy rotation on MTV.
(That Beard was the only member of ZZ Top without a beard — he limited himself to a mustache — was a source of humor for fans.)
—
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Ishani Desai/Jeff Topping
c. 2026 The New York Times Company
RELATED TOPICS:
Categories
