ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard has died at the age of 77. According to ultimateclassicrock.com, a press release confirmed he was in hospice care when he passed away on August 17 at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members present.
Guitarist and singer Billy Gibbons paid tribute to his bandmate of more than five decades, calling Beard “one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas,” whose “signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.”
Beard had stepped away from ZZ Top’s North American tour in March 2025 to focus on unspecified health issues. He was replaced by longtime band technician John Douglas, who had previously filled in for Beard during a 2002 European tour. Beard returned in September 2025 but was reportedly absent from all of the band’s 2026 tour dates, with Michael Monahan taking his place on drums.
Beard joined Gibbons in ZZ Top in 1969, roughly a year after Gibbons formed the group from his previous band, the Moving Sidewalks. He later helped recruit bassist Dusty Hill from the band American Blues, completing the classic three-man line-up that endured for over 50 years.
The drummer featured on all 15 of ZZ Top’s studio albums, from their 1971 self-titled debut to 2012’s La Futura. The trio built a distinctive blues-rock sound drawing on Texan and Mexican influences, scoring hits including “Tush,” “La Grange,” and later “Legs” and “Sharp Dressed Man” from their 1983 breakthrough album Eliminator.
In 1977, the band took what was intended as a 90-day hiatus, partly to allow Beard to address a substance-abuse problem; the break stretched to nearly two years. Beard was the only member of the trio who did not grow the trademark long beard associated with Gibbons and Hill.
Beard’s death leaves Gibbons as the sole surviving member of ZZ Top’s classic line-up. Hill died in July 2021 and was replaced by longtime guitar technician Elwood Francis.
•Featured image: Leonard M. DeLessio, Getty Images