Frank Beard had the most ironic name in rock. Now ZZ Top's drummer is gone.
Frank Beard, the ZZ Top drummer whose name became one of rock's enduring ironies as the band's only member usually without a beard, has died at 77.
The Texas musician spent more than five decades anchoring the trio's blues-rock sound, playing on every ZZ Top studio album and helping turn the band into one of America's most successful rock acts.
“I’ve found the people I was meant to play with,” Beard said in the 2019 documentary “ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas.” “I never wanted to quit and never wanted to get fired.”
Beard died on Monday in hospice care at his ranch in Richmond, Texas. A cause of death was not immediately released.
He is survived by his wife, Debbie Meredith, and three children.
Beard had battled health issues in recent years. In March 2025, ZZ Top said he was taking a temporary leave from touring to deal with foot and ankle problems. The drummer died weeks after the band canceled its August 5 Hollywood Bowl concert because of his health-related concerns.
Vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons is the only surviving member of the band's classic lineup. Dusty Hill, ZZ Top's longtime bassist, died on July 28, 2021, at age 72. Elwood Francis is the band's current bassist.
Michael Monahan, who had been filling in for Beard during recent tour dates amid the drummer's health issues, is expected to remain with the band during its current, The Big One! Tour.
Gibbons, on tour with Francis, said in a statement: “Today, Elwood [Francis] 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. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top. The band of which he was part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished.”
Republican Representative Troy Nehls of Texas posted on X, "Frank Beard was a Texas music legend. I was proud to call him my friend. He will be missed. May he rest in peace."
Pop culture author Richard Crouse wrote on X, "Frank Beard, king of the of the Texas shuffle and the only member of ZZ Top without a beard, has passed away at age 77. His bandmates Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill grew their long beards during a late-1970s break. Frank, who had a shorter one at the time, took one look, and shaved his off. He always said he did it because he could still go to the supermarket or mall without being mobbed, while the other two couldn’t. They joked about it for decades—Frank 'had the name' and the anonymity. He finally grew a short 'ZZ goatee' around 2013. RIP Frank Beard"
Eric Alper, music publicist and Sirius XM host, posted on X, "Frank Beard, the drummer who anchored ZZ Top for 57 years without a single lineup change until Dusty Hill's death, has died at 77. His steady rhythm powered everything from 'La Grange' to 'Sharp Dressed Man.'
"David Wild, TV writer and producer and host of the "Naked Lunch" podcast, posted on X: "#RIPFrankBeard, one tres hombres who made great rock & roll that was Texas-sized."
Greg Renoff, a historian music biographer, wrote on X: "RIP Frank Beard of @ZZTop thanks for all the killer grooves."
Born in Frankston, Texas, in 1949, Beard joined Gibbons and Hill in the band's early years and remained behind the drum kit for more than five decades. His steady, understated style helped drive songs including "La Grange," "Tush," "Sharp Dressed Man," "Legs" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'."
Over a career spanning more than five decades, ZZ Top sold more than 50 million records, notched six No. 1 songs on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart and landed seven albums in the Billboard 200's Top 10, earning three Grammy nominations along the way.
Although Gibbons and Hill became famous for their long facial hair, Beard earned a place in rock lore for being the only member of ZZ Top who usually did not have a beard. The irony became one of the band's best-known running jokes, with Beard typically sporting only a mustache during the group's commercial peak in the 1970s and 1980s.
ZZ Top's trademark beards developed almost by accident. Gibbons later recalled that after an extended hiatus in 1976, Beard vacationed in Jamaica, Hill traveled to Mexico and Gibbons went to France. By the time they regrouped, Gibbons and Hill had grown the long beards that would become one of rock's most recognizable looks.
“Although we were speaking by phone, this was pre-video phone. And Dusty and I did not know that we had gotten so lazy that we had decided to forget to shave,” Gibbons said in 2010. “So after three years we returned and showed up, and lo and behold here was this sort of wacky-looking image. And it just kind of stuck with us.”
Beard embraced the joke over the years. Asked about his famously mismatched name, he often noted that he was the one member people least expected, joking that he was "the only guy in the band that doesn't have a beard." The drummer did experiment with facial hair at times, including a neatly trimmed beard in the 1990s, but he never adopted the iconic look that helped make his bandmates instantly recognizable.
ZZ Top is currently on its lengthy, The Big One! Tour that continues through November 24 in Buenos Aries.
The band's website says its next two scheduled dates, August 18 in Sandy, Utah, and August 19 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are canceled. The tour is set to resume August 21 in Eagle Pass, Texas.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Gabe Whisnant and Dave Siminoff.