Every once in a blue moon, a rare moment will occur when the stars align to reveal someone’s true destiny—for ZZ Top founder Billy Gibbons, that moment came in the mid-1950s when he was still a young boy meeting B.B. King for the first time. Gibbons’ father, Frederick Royal, was a singer, conductor, and concert pianist at MGM Studios, giving the future ZZ Top musician a unique proximity to the entertainment industry at a young age.
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One fateful day at ACA Studio in Houston, Texas, Gibbons’ proximity to the stars landed him face to face with the man who would become a lifelong hero, inspiration, and impetus for Gibbons’ own influential career.
B.B. King Meets Future ZZ Top Founder, Billy Gibbons
Some people grind their way into the music industry. Others are fortunate enough to be born into it. ZZ Top founder Billy Gibbons is a lucky member of the latter camp, which offered him the opportunity to meet musical giants like B.B. King at an incredibly young age. Speaking to Guitar World in 2025, Gibbons recalled accompanying his father to ACA Studio in Houston, Texas, for a recording session. Gibbons sat in a chair off to the side of the room while the musicians played, soaking in every aspect of their performance: their gear, style, work ethic, and beyond.
“A quick runthrough by the band got the ball rolling,” the “Cheap Sunglasses” singer recalled. “Take one came over and then the count. It was three minutes of masterful execution and then on to another number. A superb experience witnessing a series of one-take deliveries. I vividly recall, which I learned later, B.B. was using a blond, [Gibson] ES-5, triple-pickup, single-cutaway. There were a couple of [Fender] tweed amplifiers across the room. They were out of the way to let the amps blare it out, away from the rest of the group. It was effortlessly lively and at the same time, agreeably stone serious.”
After the session, King approached the young Gibbons in the corner. The blues legend told the boy about how he knew his father, Frederick Royal, and asked Gibbons if he had a good time. “Needless to say,” Gibbons said, “I believe B.B. enjoyed my loud response of, ‘Yes, sir!’”
Transforming From A Student To A Peer
Billy Gibbons built his career on blending his lifelong love of the blues with Southern rock and boogie-woogie in his iconic band, ZZ Top. After his own star rose to exponential heights, he soon found himself crossing paths with B.B. King even more frequently. Except this time, Gibbons was a peer, not just the conductor’s father accompanying his dad to work. This transformation offered Gibbons even more opportunities to learn from King, which he willingly did at any chance he could.
Sometimes, King’s advice was technical. “I was about 22 and just starting out with ZZ Top,” Gibbons later said. “I was in the dressing room, and B.B. said to me, ‘Can I play your guitar?’ I said, ‘Sure, man.’ He strummed it a few times and handed it back to me. He looked at me rather quizzically and said, ‘Why you working so hard?’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, “Those strings. You got real heavy, heavy strings.’ I said, ‘Well, isn’t that how to get the heavy, heavy sound?’ He said, ‘No! Don’t be working so hard!’”
Other times, the blues legend’s guidance was more cerebral. “B.B. King left me with probably the strongest statements you could ask for. You should learn to play what you want to hear. Not what someone is trying to teach you. Follow what’s in your head.”
Several awards, chart-topping singles, and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction later, and it’s clear that following what was in his head was exactly what Billy Gibbons (and the rest of ZZ Top) did with great success.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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