The tireless drummer anchored the Texas band on hits like “La Grange,” “Tush,” and “Cheap Sunglasses” during its five-decade run
Frank Beard in Macon, Georgia in 1974 Tom Hill/WireImage
Frank Beard, the longtime, hard-shuffling drummer for Texas rock greats ZZ Top, died on Monday. He was 77.
Bob Merlis, the band’s representative, confirmed the news, saying Beard died while in hospice care, surrounded by family, at his ranch in Richmond, Texas. An exact cause of death was not given.
“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,” guitarist-singer Billy Gibbons wrote on social media. “His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.”
ZZ Top also announced that it would cancel its scheduled show tonight (Aug. 18) in Salt Lake City and its gig on Wednesday (Aug. 19) in Colorado Springs. The band’s current tour will resume this weekend in Austin.
Beard had faced several serious health issues over the years. In 2002, he missed some shows after undergoing an emergency appendectomy, while in 2025 he “temporarily” stepped away due to unspecified health issues. Earlier this month, ZZ Top abruptly canceled a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, citing “insurmountable obstacles”; it was later revealed that Beard’s health was the cause, though again no specifics were given.
Though not technically a founding member, Beard was ZZ Top’s longtime and definitive drummer. He linked up with Gibbons after ZZ Top released their debut single, “Salt Lick” (featuring drummer Dan Mitchell), and was responsible for bringing in bassist Dusty Hill.
While so much of ZZ Top’s aura centered on their hooks, their riffs, and their facial hair, the beardless Beard was the band’s indispensable anchor. He was a master of the Texas shuffle, an inch-perfect, steady-rocking drum groove that held down ZZ Top’s signature blues rock boogie on classic hits like “Tush” and “La Grange.”
Beard’s playing was precise and tireless. In the 2019 documentary, ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, he recalled the first time he and Gibbons played together: “I was jacked up on speed,” Beard cracked, “so I made him jam for about eight hours ’til his tongue just fell out.”
Gibbons added of the experience: “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 June 11, 1949, in the small town of Frankston, Texas. He got his start playing in bands in high school and eventually became a fixture in the Dallas music scene, where he met Hill. The two played together in several groups during the Sixties, including the Warlocks, American Blues, and even the infamous fake version of the Zombies that toured after the actual English psych rock group disbanded.
Beard’s career nearly stalled out after he got his girlfriend pregnant; the couple got married, began to raise their child, and spent some time living with Beard’s parents. But after moving his family to Houston, Beard was introduced to Gibbons, then playing in a group called the Moving Sidewalks. Beard soon joined the group, brought in Hill, and the band changed their name to ZZ Top.
Under the guidance of manager and producer Bill Ham, ZZ Top spent their early years gigging constantly wherever they could. While their 1971 debut, ZZ Top’s First Album, failed to chart or spawn any noteworthy singles, the group steadily developed a reputation on the road. Speaking with Rolling Stone in 1984, Beard credited Ham for cleverly booking ZZ Top support gigs on tours with headliners that weren’t likely to leave an impression.
“When we were second on the bill, he would always get us on a tour with a band that was through — that was fixin’ to break up and just doin’ a money tour,” Beard said. “And we’d get out there and just kick their ass. We did Mott the Hoople that way, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple. They were through, and they didn’t care who knew it, so people would remember us.”