ZZ Top Breaks Silence on Band’s Future After Drummer Frank Beard’s Death

ZZ Top will live on. In the wake of longtime drummer Frank Beard’s death, the band announced that they will continue touring in his honor.

ZZ Top, which is now comprised of Billy Gibbons and Elwood Francis, canceled two shows that were scheduled to be held shortly after Beard’s death.

However, in an Instagram post, the guys revealed that they will resume touring later this week.

“The band will resume its current The Big One! Tour this weekend with two dates in at Austin City Limits, one of Frank’s favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him,” the band wrote.

ZZ Top has a busy touring schedule following their stops in Austin. They’ll play across the U.S. in cities including Syracuse, Lancaster, and Nashville through October.

The following month, ZZ Top will travel to Mexico for a series of shows. That will be followed by a South American stint, which will conclude on Nov. 24 in Buenos Aires.

What to Know About ZZ Top’s Frank Beard

The news comes after Beard died while in hospice care at his Texas ranch. He was 77.

“Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas,” Gibbons told Variety in the wake of his bandmate’s death. “His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top. The band of which he was part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished.”

Beard’s death came just over a week after ZZ Top canceled their performance at the Hollywood Bowl due to “unforeseen personnel matters.”

“Insurmountable obstacles require canceling our Hollywood Bowl performance,” Gibbons said at the time. “Friends, fans and followers of ZZ Top are the best in the business and the band is counting on everyone to bear with us for this brief interruption.”

Beard didn’t co-found ZZ Top. However, he had played with the band since 1969. The band—which included Beard, Francis, Gibbons, and the late Dusty Hill—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Photo by Mariano Regidor/Getty Images