August 22 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
$137
ZZ Top, the trio Texas has claimed as its own for more than half a century, opens a two-night stand at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 — the band’s first shows since the death of longtime drummer Frank Beard, who died Aug. 18 at age 77.
Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Dusty Hill formed ZZ Top in Houston in late 1969, pulling from two rival bands — Gibbons’ Moving Sidewalks and Beard and Hill’s American Blues. Their third record, 1973’s Tres Hombres, broke them nationally on the strength of “La Grange,” and 1983’s Eliminator turned their blues-boogie foundation into an MTV-era phenomenon, going Diamond on the strength of “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.” Elwood Francis has held down bass since Dusty Hill stepped away from touring in 2021, and the band’s chemistry has barely missed a beat.
Beard anchored ZZ Top’s rhythm section for 56 years, playing on all 15 of the band’s studio albums and driving hits like “La Grange,” “Tush” and “Gimme All Your Lovin’.” Gibbons, now the band’s last original member, called Austin’s ACL Live “one of Frank’s favorite venues” and said the tour would go on in his honor. Read more in our remembrance of Frank Beard.
ACL Live sits in the same downtown Austin blocks where the city’s blues tradition still runs deep, and a hometown-adjacent stop for a band the state has officially designated a Texas Hero carries extra weight. Gibbons has spent decades trading licks and stories with the same scene that built clubs like Antone’s Nightclub, and a ZZ Top show in Austin always feels a little like a family reunion.
Grab tickets on StubHub before Saturday’s show sells out.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers — inducted by Keith Richards himself — ZZ Top have sold hundreds of millions of records and toured four continents without ever losing the “tone, taste and tenacity” that’s defined them since Houston in 1969. The band returns to Austin for two nights, Aug. 22 and 23, giving fans a rare chance to catch back-to-back shows from a band still touring hard more than 55 years in.
Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show, with tickets starting at $137. Austin’s own Mike “The Drifter” Flanigin opens. Parking is available in the Moody Theater’s attached garage and nearby downtown lots.