ZZ Top

United States • b. 1969-01-01

Biography

ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. The band maintained a constant lineup for over five decades—consisting of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill until Hill's departure, and eventual death, in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are known for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who wore sunglasses, hats, and long beards. ZZ Top formed after Gibbons' band, Moving Sidewalks, disbanded in 1969. Within a year, they signed with London Records and released ZZ Top's First Album in 1971. Albums Tres Hombres (1973) and Fandango! (1975), and singles "La Grange" and "Tush", gained extensive radio airplay and have become staple tracks of classic rock radio. By the mid-1970s, ZZ Top had become renowned in North America for their live act, including the Worldwide Texas Tour (1976–77), which was a critical and commercial success. ZZ Top returned in 1979 with a new musical direction and image, with Gibbons and Hill wearing sunglasses and matching chest-length beards. With the album El Loco (1981), they began to experiment with synthesizers and drum machines. They established a more mainstream sound and rose to international stardom with Eliminator (1983) and Afterburner (1985), which integrated influences from new wave, punk, and dance-rock. The popularity of the albums' music videos, including for "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man", and "Legs", gave them mass exposure on MTV and made them prominent in 1980s pop culture. The Afterburner tour set records for the highest-attended and highest-grossing of 1986. After the release of their 10th album, Recycler (1990), and its accompanying tour, the group's experimentation continued with mixed success on the albums Antenna (1994), Rhythmeen (1996), XXX (1999), and Mescalero (2003). They released La Futura (201

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