ZZ Top | Artist

ZZ Top is an American rock trio formed 1969 in Houston, Texas, by vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill. The band was active for over 50 years, with the same lineup, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are known for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who wore sunglasses, hats and long beards. Drummer Frank Beard was the only band member without a beard. The band plays boogie blues-rock that has crossed over into mainstream rock audiences, but retains much of its Texas blues roots. ZZ Top formed after Gibbons' psychedelic garage-rock band, Moving Sidewalks, disbanded in 1969. Within a year, they signed with London Records and released their debut, ZZ Top's First Album in 1971. Their following albums Tres Hombres and Fandango! gained extensive radio airplay thanks to the singles "La Grange" and "Tush". They established a more mainstream sound and rose to international stardom with the albums Eliminator and Afterburner, which integrated influences from new wave, punk, and dance-rock. The popularity of the albums' music videos, including "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man", and "Legs", gave them mass exposure on MTV and made them prominent in 1980s pop culture. The Afterburner tour set records for the highest-attended and highest-grossing of 1986. From their discography of 15 studio albums, standouts include Tres Hombres (1973), Fandango! (1975), Degüello (1979), Eliminator (1983) and La Futura (2012). The band's leader, guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons, was also the main lyricist and musical arranger. Gibbons has released a number of solo albums since Dusty Hill's demise. ZZ Top is still a working band, with Elwood Francis taking over on bass guitar. The band name ZZ Top was dreamed up by Billy Gibbons who, when contemplating band names, was listening to electric blues legend B.B. King and fellow Texan, the funky bluesman Z.Z. Hill, and thought of combining the two into "ZZ King", but considered it too similar to their original names. He then figured that "king is at the top" which gave him the idea of naming the band "ZZ Top."

Artist Website: zztop.com

Featured Albums: ZZ Top

Related Artists: The Moving Sidewalks, The Warlocks, American Blues, Billy F Gibbons