The tireless drummer anchored the Texas band on hits like \u201cLa Grange,\u201d \u201cTush,\u201d and \u201cCheap Sunglasses\u201d during its five-decade run<\/p>\n
Frank Beard in Macon, Georgia in 1974 Tom Hill\/WireImage<\/p>\n
Frank Beard, the longtime, hard-shuffling drummer for Texas rock greats\u00a0ZZ Top, died on Monday. He was 77.<\/p>\n
Bob Merlis, the band\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, 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,\u201d guitarist-singer Billy Gibbons wrote on social media. \u201cHis signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s current tour will resume this weekend in Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u00a0\u201ctemporarily\u201d\u00a0stepped away\u00a0due to unspecified health issues. Earlier this month, ZZ Top\u00a0abruptly canceled\u00a0a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, citing \u201cinsurmountable obstacles\u201d; it was later revealed that Beard\u2019s health was the cause, though again no specifics were given.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though not technically a founding member, Beard was ZZ Top\u2019s longtime and definitive drummer. He linked up with Gibbons after ZZ Top released their debut single, \u201cSalt Lick\u201d (featuring drummer Dan Mitchell), and was responsible for bringing in bassist Dusty Hill.<\/p>\n
While so much of ZZ Top\u2019s aura centered on their hooks, their riffs, and their facial hair, the beardless Beard was the band\u2019s indispensable anchor. He was a master of the Texas shuffle, an inch-perfect, steady-rocking drum groove that held down ZZ Top\u2019s signature blues rock boogie on classic hits like \u201cTush\u201d and \u201cLa Grange.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beard\u2019s playing was precise and tireless. In the\u00a02019 documentary,\u00a0ZZ Top: That Little Ol\u2019 Band from Texas, he recalled the first time he and Gibbons played together: \u201cI was jacked up on speed,\u201d Beard cracked, \u201cso I made him jam for about eight hours \u2019til his tongue just fell out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gibbons added of the experience: \u201cIt didn\u2019t take 30 minutes, it didn\u2019t take 30 seconds \u2014 I knew that Frank Beard had the kind of chops that I was looking for. He played fiercely. He played with determination.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u00a0fake version of the Zombies\u00a0that toured after the actual English psych rock group disbanded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beard\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the guidance of manager and producer Bill Ham, ZZ Top spent their early years gigging constantly wherever they could. While their 1971 debut,\u00a0ZZ Top\u2019s First Album, failed to chart or spawn any noteworthy singles, the group steadily developed a reputation on the road. Speaking with\u00a0Rolling Stone\u00a0in 1984, Beard credited Ham for cleverly booking ZZ Top support gigs on tours with headliners that weren\u2019t likely to leave an impression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were second on the bill, he would always get us on a tour with a band that was\u00a0through\u00a0\u2014 that was fixin\u2019 to break up and just doin\u2019 a money tour,\u201d Beard said. \u201cAnd we\u2019d 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\u2019t care who knew it, so people would remember us.\u201d<\/p>\n