Then & Now: ZZ Top

In 1969 ZZ Top formed in Houston, Texas with Billy Gibbons, bassist Lanier Greig, and drummer Dan Mitchell. Gibbons initially called the band ZZ King after B.B. King and Z.Z. Hill before switching to ZZ Top.

Frank “Rube” Beard would later take Mitchell’s place, while Greig was replaced by Beard’s former American Blues bandmate Dusty Hill (1949-2021). The core of ZZ Top had formed when all three members were only 20 years old.

ZZ Top played their first concert on February 10, 1970, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Beaumont, Texas, and released their debut album a year later. The original lineup of Gibbons, Beard, and Hill would continue performing together for more than 50 years.

1970s

Throughout the ’70s, Gibbons served as the chief songwriter, and the trio co-wrote, recorded, and released their earlier albums, including their debut ZZ Top’s First Album in 1971 and Rio Grande Mud in 1972, before the band’s breakthrough Tres Hombres in 1973, and their hit “La Grange” and “Tush.”

Tres Hombres was the band’s first major success, hitting No. 8 on the Billboard 200. The album also marked the beginning of ZZ Top’s trademark sound.

1980s

Degüello, released in 1979, and El Loco a year later—the latter featuring Hill and Gibbons’ iconic beards on the album cover for the first time—were already shifting away from the band’s boogie-blues rock. The ’80s saw the band move even further away into another sonic direction with their next three albums.

The band entered the MTV age full force while incorporating a more pop and new wave sound on the 1983 release, Eliminator. ZZ Top added their own twist of MTV stimuli with videos for hits “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” “TV Dinners,” and “Gimme All Your Lovin’.”

The band’s follow-up Afterburner charted even higher at No. 4, along with hit “Sleeping Bag,” which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Closing out the decade and entering the ’90s, Recycler was the final piece in a trilogy of albums with the single “My Head’s in Mississippi,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

Less synth-pop than the previous two albums, Recycler marked the beginning of the band’s transition back into more guitar-led rock.

[RELATED: 3 Songs You Didn’t Know ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons Wrote for Other Artists]

1990s

ZZ Top kicked off the new decade by appearing as the party band in Back to the Future Part III. The band released three more albums throughout the 1990s, kicking off with Antenna in 1994, which went to No. 14 on the Billboard 200.

The band’s 12th album, Rhythmeen, was their final one with longtime producer Bill Ham with Gibbons taking over production for ZZ Top’s 1999 album XXX.

2003

Throughout the ’00s, ZZ Top only released one album, Mescalero, which incorporated more Tejano and country elements.

A year later, ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Keith Richards.

2010s-Presents

Throughout four decades, ZZ Top released 15 albums through La Futura in 2012, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.

In the 2010s, Gibbons also embarked on his solo career, releasing his debut Perfectamundo in 2015, followed by The Big Bad Blues in 2018 and Hardware in 2021, along with countless collaborations—everyone from B.B. King, Les Paul, Hank Williams III, to Ronnie Dunn, Queens of the Stone Age, and most recently playing guitar on Chapel Hart’s 2020 single “Jesus & Alcohol.”

La Futura was the final ZZ Top album to feature all three original members. Hill died on July 28, 2021 at age 72.

Prior to his death, Hill instructed his bandmates to continue on and enlist the band’s longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis in his place. Francis has been performing with ZZ Top since then.

Photo: Frank Hoensch/Redferns