ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard dies aged 77

What the report says

Longtime ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard has died at age 77, according to a statement on the band’s website cited by BBC World News. The group said he died on Monday in hospice care at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members present. The statement did not give a cause of death.

The band said Beard’s death forces it to cancel tour dates this week in Utah and Colorado. It also said ZZ Top plans to continue its current The Big One! Tour later in the week, including shows at Austin City Limits, a venue the group described as one of Beard’s favorites and a place that felt like a second home to him.

BBC reported that Beard was a central part of ZZ Top for decades, providing the rhythmic backbone for songs including La Grange, Tush and Cheap Sunglasses. The band was founded in 1969, became widely known for hits such as Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Legs, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Its lineup also included Billy Gibbons and the late Dusty Hill, who died in 2021.

Gibbons said the band and fans had lost a valued collaborator and a distinctive drummer. As a general point of context, ZZ Top has remained an active touring act for many years, and Beard’s death marks another major loss for the Texas group.