Frank Beard, the longtime and legendary drummer of ZZ Top, has died at age 77. He passed away on Monday, August 17th, in hospice care at his ranch in Richmond, Texas.
It was just last week that TMZ reported that Beard had to step away from touring with ZZ Top due to serious health issues.
A statement from the band’s publicist reads, in part, “It was announced today that Frank Beard, ZZ Top’s drummer for the past 56 years, has died. He was in hospice care when he passed away at his ranch in Richmond, TX with family members at his side. Beard, together with guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill were one of music’s most enduring line-ups continuing until 2021 when Hill’s passing saw Elwood Francis join the band, who have continued to tour throughout North America, Europe and South America to this day.”
Frontman Gibbons added, “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. The band of which he was part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished.”
ZZ Top have canceled their next two shows in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs, but will resume their summer tour this weekend with a pair of concerts in Austin, Texas. Drummer Michael Monahan, who had been filling in for Beard the past several shows, will continue to man the kit for ZZ Top.
Beard, known as the one ZZ Top member without a beard, was the galvanizing force for the little band from Texas that formed in 1969 in Houston. The drummer, along with singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill, made up the classic lineup that would record and tour together for 50 years until Hill’s death in 2021.
Beard’s steady beat was an integral part of the band’s vitality, but it was his self-realized sobriety that played a crucial part in the trio’s longevity and their 1980s success.
The band gained a huge following through the 1970s with their driving blues-rock and outlandish live shows that played up their Texas roots. But the troubadour lifestyle led Beard into addiction in the latter part of the decade. He openly discussed over the years how he spent his first large, paycheck of $72,000 entirely on drugs. Weary from the road and knowing Beard needed to address his drug use, the band took a three-year hiatus. Beard checked himself into a rehab program and his eventual sobriety helped propel their band to their peak.
Beard’s solid 4/4 drumming literally kicked off the band’s most successful era. His beat, with its no-time-off kick drum, starts “Gimme All Your Lovin,’” the first single from their 1983 album Eliminator, their most commercially successful record that went on to sell 11 million copies.
With songs like “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs” and “Velcro Flyer” from 1985’s Afterburner that came with videos featuring the band’s signature hotrods, salacious women characters and the trio of cool outsiders, ZZ Top rode into households as darlings of MTV in the mid-1980s, riding their success on the channel to their commercial peak.
But the band wouldn’t have done it without Beard, Gibbons said in a 2019 interview with Good Morning America on the band’s 50th anniversary.
“There is no other drummer,” Gibbons said when asked if he thought of replacing Beard as he sought addiction treatment. “There’s one guy.”
Our condolences go out to Frank Beard’s family, friends, and bandmates during this difficult time.
