Frank Beard, the drummer who helmed the kit in ZZ Top for 56 years, has died. Beard was in hospice care when he died Monday at his ranch in Richmond, Texas with his family at his side, a rep confirmed to the Associated Press. He was 77.
Beard is the second member of ZZ Top's classic lineup to die following bassist Dusty Hill, who passed away in 2021. That leaves founding singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons as the sole remaining musician from the group's half-century run as kings of Texas boogie-rock, a massively influential stint that yielded hits like "Sharp Dressed Man," "La Grange," "Legs," "Tush," and "Gimme All Your Lovin."
Beard had been touring with Gibbons and bassist Elwood Francis until earlier this month, when he dropped off the tour and substitute drummer Michael Monahan stepped in. He previously stepped away in 2025 due to an undisclosed health ailment. The band announced it would cancel its shows tonight and Wednesday in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs and would return to the stage Aug. 22 and 23 at ACL Live at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, "one of Frank's favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him."
"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 wrote in a statement. "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 was born in Frankston, Texas in 1949. Growing up in the Dallas area, he took to the drums and played in a number of fledgling garage bands alongside future ZZ Top bandmate Dusty Hill. In 1969, the two of them were also part of a fake version of the Zombies assembled by a promoter to play the British Invasion band's hits on tour. That same year, he also joined the Houston-based Moving Sidewalks, fronted by Gibbons, and introduced him to Hill. By the start of 1971, they'd rebranded to ZZ Top and released their debut album, ZZ Top's First Album.
The band was off and running on a career that would see them become rock radio staples with their hard-hitting blend of smokin' blues-rock and Southern boogie. In the late '70s, the band went on hiatus for three years while Beard went to rehab for various drug addictions. In 1981, he and his first wife Catherine Alexander divorced after three years. He married Debbie Meredith in 1982 and went on to raise three children with her.
When ZZ Top returned from hiatus, Gibbons and Hill adopted the matching hats, sunglasses, and chest-length beards that became the group's visual signature. (Beard, ironically, was the only member without a beard.) In the '80s, they evolved their music significantly, weaving elements of punk and new wave into their sound on albums like El Loco, Eliminator, and Afterburner, even incorporating synths and drum machines in a genre where guitars ruled the day. By the '90s, they were transitioning to legacy-act status, but they continued flaunting maximum showmanship and musicianship for many decades to come. In 1997, they played the Super Bowl halftime show with the Blues Brothers and James Brown, one of many moments that showed their endurance presence in pop culture.
Beard's hard-swinging backbeats (and light touch when needed) were essential to the group's appeal. It's hard to imagine a song like "La Grange" working nearly as well without his musical intelligence and stylistic flair. According to the AP, ZZ Top sold more than 50 million records, racked up six #1 hits on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, put seven albums in the Billboard 200 top 10, and earned three Grammy nominations. More importantly, they built up a reputation as one of the greatest power trios in rock history, rooted in American classics but unafraid to experiment. Below, revisit some of their biggest hits.
