ZZ Top cancels shows until weekend after drummer Frank Beard dies aged 77
ZZ Top longtime member and drummer for over 50 years, Frank Beard, has died aged 77.
The veteran rocker died on Monday surrounded by his family at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, while in hospice care, the band’s representative, Bob Merlis, has confirmed.
An exact cause of death has not been given, but he had been forced to pull out of ZZ Top’s tour last March due to an unspecified ‘health issue’.
As a result of the news, ZZ Top have cancelled a scheduled performance on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City and Wednesday’s show in Colorado Springs.
However, the tour will then resume this weekend in Austin in the wake of Beard’s death, the group announced.
Earlier this month, the Sharp Dressed Man band also pulled out of a gig at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl at short notice, citing ‘insurmountable obstacles’, which were later revealed to be connected with Beard’s health.
Paying tribute to him on Instagram on the band’s official account, frontman Billy Gibbons wrote: ‘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. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.’
Alongside a smiling photo of Beard wearing sunglasses, and a picture of him behind the drums at a concert, the post’s caption continued: ‘Following Frank’s passing, ZZ Top has cancelled its upcoming shows in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs.
‘The band will resume its current The Big One! Tour this weekend with two dates in at Austin City Limits, one of Frank’s favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him.’
Beard first connected with singer and guitarist Billy Gibbons after ZZ Top released their debut single Salt Lick in 1969, which featured Dan Mitchell on the drums. He was also responsible for bringing in bassist Dusty Hill.
Back in 2019, the sticksman recalled the first time he and Billy played together.
Speaking in the documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, he joked: ‘I was jacked up on speed, so I made him jam for about eight hours ’til his tongue just fell out.’
Billy added: ‘It didn’t take 30 minutes, it didn’t take 30 seconds — I knew that Frank Beard had the kind of chops that I was looking for. He played fiercely. He played with determination.’
Beard was born in Frankston, Texas, in June 1949 and played bands in high school before meeting Hill on the Dallas music scene, playing together in a number of 1960s groups including the Warlocks and American Blues.
He took time out from music when he married pregnant girlfriend Catherine Alexander but after the family moved to Houston to bring up their child, he was introduced to Billy, a member of the group known as Moving Sidewalks at the time.
They subsequently joined forces and re-christened the group ZZ Top before Beard brought in Hill to replace bassist Billy Ethridge, who hadn’t wanted to sign a recording contract, thus forming the band’s classic line-up of decades’ standing.
Although their 1971 debut LP, ZZ Top’s First Album, failed to chart, the group developed a strong live following and eventually broke through with their 1974 record Tres Hombres.
They went on hiatus briefly in 1976, in part so Beard could get sober, before returning in 1979.
The rockers reached their commercial peak throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, achieving two top 10 hits in the UK with Gimme All Your Lovin and Viva Las Vegas, and received three Grammy nominations.
ZZ Top were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
Hill died in 2021 but his bandmates continued to tour afterwards with bassist Elwood Francis.
Beard is survived by wife, Debbie Meredith, and his three children.