Photo credit: Jimmy Steinfeldt
ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard has passed away. The Texas native, who anchored the group from behind the kit for 56 years, was in hospice care when he died at his ranch with his family by his side. The group had canceled their August 5 date at the Hollywood Bowl last week due to “unforeseen personal matters.”
Beard was born on June 11,1949 in Frankston, TX and later grew up in Irving, TX. There he connected with bassist and fellow Beatles fan Dusty Hill. The two backed various artists as a rock-solid rhythm section, including Lightnin’ Hopkins.
In late 1969 the drummer reached out to Billy F Gibbons, suggesting that he and Hill would be a perfect complement to the guitarist. As Gibbons later said of the initial jam session at his home, “It was a blues in D, a shuffle and we just didn’t want to stop . . . and we didn’t for the next five or six decades.”
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