 |
| Frank Beard (1949-2026) |
Frank Beard, the longtime drummer for ZZ Top, has died at age 77.
The Texas-bred musician, who played with the blues-rock trio for 56 years, died Aug. 17 while in hospice care at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, “with family members at his side,” a band representative told USA TODAY.
Beard had stepped away from ZZ Top’s The Big One Tour earlier in August due to health issues, with Michael Monahan filling in on drums. He had also temporarily left the road in 2025 for an undisclosed medical problem involving his foot and ankle. The band canceled shows scheduled for Aug. 18-19 and plans to resume Aug. 22-23 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.”
His death leaves singer-guitarist and band founder Billy Gibbons as the sole surviving member from ZZ Top’s most successful decades. Bassist-singer Dusty Hill died in 2021.Ironically, Beard was the only member of the famously hirsute trio who did not wear the group’s signature long beard, instead favoring a coif of curls and a mustache for most of his career.
Born June 11, 1949, in Frankston, Texas, Beard joined ZZ Top shortly after its formation, becoming a permanent fixture alongside Gibbons and Hill (whom he had previously played with in bands including the Outlaws, the Cellar Dwellers, the Warlocks and American Blues). He appeared on the band’s 1971 debut, ZZ Top’s First Album (credited as “Rube Beard”), and remained through their decades of success, though he was not the group’s original drummer—Dan Mitchell held that role in the pre-ZZ Top Moving Sidewalks and early ZZ Top singles.
In the 2019 documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, Beard recalled forcing Gibbons into an eight-hour jam session shortly after they met: “I was jacked up on speed… until his tongue almost fell out.” Gibbons remembered: “He played fiercely. He played with determination. And I decided, enter Frank Beard as … the new drummer for ZZ Top.”
The trio’s swampy blend of blues, boogie and rock produced 1970s hits including “La Grange” and “Tush,” followed by 1980s mainstream success with tracks like “Cheap Sunglasses” and “Tube Snake Boogie.”