Texas Music News — August 18, 2026
Frank Beard, the drummer who anchored ZZ Top’s rhythm section for 56 years, has died at 77. He passed away Monday in hospice care at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family by his side. The band’s publicist confirmed his death but did not disclose a cause.
Beard grew up in Frankston, Texas, and later Irving, Texas, where he first learned to play drums. He also introduced guitarist Billy Gibbons to bassist Dusty Hill in 1969. That lineup stayed intact for 52 years, until Hill died in 2021. Over the decades that followed, Beard played on all 15 of the band’s studio albums. He drove hits like “La Grange,” “Tush,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.”
Frank Beard: Frankston’s Beardless Backbeat
ZZ Top fans knew Frank Beard as the only member without a beard. Still, it’s an irony the band never let him live down. He finally grew a short one in 2013. Gibbons and Hill grew their own trademark beards by accident. It happened during a three-year hiatus, while Beard got sober in the late 1970s.
Beard’s health had declined for more than a year. He stepped away from ZZ Top’s tour in 2025 to treat foot and ankle problems. Drummer Michael Monahan filled in for the band’s most recent shows. ZZ Top then canceled its Aug. 5 concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Gibbons called the disruption “insurmountable obstacles” at the time.
ZZ Top to resume live shows Saturday and Sunday at ACL Live in Austin.
Billy Gibbons, now ZZ Top’s last original member, mourned his longtime friend in a statement Monday. “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 said. “His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.”
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted ZZ Top in 2004. The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards handled the honors. The trio went on to sell more than 50 million albums, built on Beard’s steady groove.
ZZ Top canceled its Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs shows this week. But Gibbons said the tour will continue this weekend at Austin’s ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Those shows will be ZZ Top’s first since Beard’s death. Gibbons called the venue “one of Frank’s favorite venues and a city that had been something of a second home for him.” Beard leaves behind his wife, Debbie Meredith, and three children.
Frankston, Texas, raised one of American music’s most quietly essential drummers.
Details at CBS News