The trio spent its first few years playing mostly regional concerts until Houston record producer Pappy Daily cut a deal to finance "ZZ Top's First Album" in 1970. Five other records followed on the London Records label. The third LP, "Tres Hombres" in 1973, brought them national attention and a Platinum album. Its hit song "La Grange", about a whorehouse, was allegedly based on John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." It is still the band's signature riff tune. Also included was "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers", the would-be anthem.
Although their concert earnings were now in the tens of millions, by the end of the tour the group was exhausted. They took a break that ended up lasting three years. Manager Bill Ham stayed busy, however, shrewdly negotiating a lucrative recording contract with Warner Brothers that is still talked about in the music business. They resumed their career in 1979 with the superb "Deguello", by which time both Gibbons and Hill had grown lengthy beards without each other knowing!. Revitalized by their break, the trio offered a series of pulsating original songs on "Deguello" as well as inspired recreations of Sam And Dave's "I Thank You" and Elmore James' "Dust My Broom".
The next album, "Eliminator," became ZZ Top's best-selling album (10 million copies in the USA) and featured musically controversial electronic instruments. The synthesizers and drum machines caused controversy in other ways as well. According to former roadie David Blayney in his book, Sharp Dressed Men, sound engineer Linden Hudson co-wrote much of the material on the album as a live-in, high-tech music teacher to Beard and Gibbons. Hudson claims that in addition to not getting songwriting credit, Bill Ham worked to cover up his contributions to the album. Despite continued denials by the band, it settled a five-year legal battle with Hudson, paying him $600,000 after he allegedly proved he held the copyright on the song "Thug". Another copyright suit was brought by a co-writer of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen", the alleged basis of "La Grange". That case was settled and sealed.
The transitional "El Loco" followed in 1981 and although it lacked the punch of its predecessor, preferring the surreal to the celebratory, the set introduced the growing love of technology that marked the group's subsequent releases. The follow-up, 1985's "Afterburner", was another strong album, although it could not match earlier sales. It did feature some excellent individual moments in "Sleeping Ba"' and "Rough Boy", and the cleverly titled "Velcro Fly". ZZ Top undertook another lengthy break before returning with the impressive "Recycler" in 1990. Appearances in 1990 included a movie cameo, playing themselves in Michael J. Fox's Back To The Future 3, in the town dance scene. Tragedy struck in 1991 when manager Bill Ham's wife, Cecile, was murdered. A 23-year-old man on parole with three prior convictions, strangled her for her car so he wouldn't have to walk to his halfway house. Spencer Goodman was later convicted and was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, in January, 2000. Ham was present for the execution.
In spite of hard times personally, ZZ Top's 1996 album, "Rythmeen" was considered one of their best. Gibbons called it the "first pure trio record of our career," because only the three of them played on it. That return to an earlier sound, made more pure and raw, continued on their 1999 album, "XXX", which celebrated the band's thirtieth anniversary. Over 100 concert dates took place on the "XXX" tour with special guest Lynyrd Skynyrd. The trek was scheduled to continue through July 2000, however, due to Dusty Hill's serious illness, June and July dates were postponed indefinitely.
In 2001, ZZ Top were booked to perform a one-hour show for the inauguration party of President George W. Bush, and also began work in the studio on a new album, which was scheduled for release that same year. At the turn of the century, ZZ Top was the only major Rock group with its original members still intact after three decades. On March 16th, 2004, the three of them were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, ZZ Top performed "Sharp Dressed Man" with David Cook at the season 7 finale of American Idol. Although their tour with Aerosmith was scrubbed following Steven Tyler's stage fall on August 6th, 2009, a new two disc album, which features live performances from 1980 and 2008, was in the works.
The band continued to tour in 2009 and appeared on VH1's Storytellers that July, in celebration of their four decades as recording artists. On January 22nd, 2010, Billy Gibbons accompanied Will Ferrell and others playing "Free Bird" on Conan O'Brien's final show. O'Brien joined them on guitar. On June 8th, 2011, a press release announced that a new ZZ Top song called "Flyin' High" would debut in space, as astronaut Michael Fossum was given the tune to listen to on his trip to the International Space Station. Billy Gibbons revealed in an interview in August, 2011 that a new album was in the works with a release date set for September, 2012.
In June, 2013, the band released a ten disc boxed set of their first ten albums entitled "Tejas". The following Spring they announced plans for a five week, 2014 Summer tour with guitar legend Jeff Beck. Two weeks of that tour had to be canceled after bassist Dusty Hill fell on the band's bus and injured his hip. 2015 saw the group back on the road with dates scattered throughout the United States and Canada, as well as the announcement of Billy Gibbons' first solo album, "Perfectamundo", slated for an October release and supported by Gibbons' solo tour. In mid-December, ZZ Top announced a list of more than two dozen Spring dates dubbed the Hell Raisers tour, beginning March 18th in Oklahoma and continuing through May 6 in North Carolina.
For 2017, the trio had a long series of shows they called the Tonnage Tour planned across the United States and Europe. In early May they announced they would will release a new vinyl set that focused on their early albums titled "Cinco: The First Five LPs". In mid-October the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates on their 2017 Tonnage tour because doctors advised bassist Dusty Hill, who is battling an undisclosed stomach ailment, to lay low for a while. In late January, 2018 the band announced a six-date residency at the Venetian in Las Vegas starting April 20. They were also scheduled to appear alongside John Fogerty for two dozen shows across America in May and June. As for new releases, fans were looking forward to two new albums from Billy Gibbons over the next few months. The first was "The Big Bad Blues", a follow-up to his 2015 solo album "Perfectamundo", scheduled for release on September 21st. The second was newly recorded material by The Moving Sidewalks, the late-'60s Psychedelic Garage-Rock band Gibbons was in before forming ZZ Top.
2019's plans included three 50th anniversary shows in their native Texas in May, followed by an extensive U.S. summer tour. Cheap Trick was scheduled to serve as the tour's primary special guest, with Lynyrd Skynyrd also joining them for a pair of shows. In early September, Dusty Hill was quoted as saying that he is optimistic that ZZ Top will release another studio album, and that the band had a lot of tracks already recorded. A documentary titled ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band From Texas was scheduled for release on Blu-ray, DVD and digital video on February 28, 2020. Unfortunately, the band's five show residency at The Venetian in Las Vegas was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. In December of that year, Billy Gibbons announced that his sixth-annual Jungle Show would be a livestream concert, broadcast from Austin on New Year's Eve. The show was to include Jimmie Vaughan, Mike Flanigin, Sue Foley and Chris Layton. Under normal circumstances, the group would perform in front of an audience at Antone's in Austin, but with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, Gibbons was forced to go virtual with the show. In March, 2021, Billy Gibbons announced a new solo album titled "Hardware" would arrive on June 4th. A single from that collection called "My Lucky Card" was also slated for release on that date. That announcement was followed two months later by the news that the entire ZZ Top band was working on a new album that was expected to arrive by the end of the year. Also on tap was an extensive tour of North America that was slated to run through early 2022.
Sadly, those plans were cut short when Dusty Hill passed away in his sleep at his home in Houston, Texas on July 28th, 2021. The 72-year-old bassist had been forced to take a break from touring to rest an injured hip and was temporarily replaced by the band's guitar tech, Elwood Francis. In a statement, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard said, "We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill has passed away... We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the 'Top'. We will forever be connected to that "Blues Shuffle in C." The pair also added, "You will be missed greatly, amigo." Billy Gibbons also assured fans that Hill's death will not mean the end of ZZ Top, as the bassist insisted that the band go on without him. "Dusty emphatically grabbed my arm and said, 'Give Elwood the bottom end, and take it to the Top,'" Gibbons explained to SiriusXM radio host Eddie Trunk.
In mid-December, 2021, ZZ Top's manager, Carl Stubner announced that the band had sold their publishing catalogue and the rights to their music royalties to BMG and the investment firm KKR. The multimillion dollar deal covered all their music interests, including their publishing rights and any income from recorded music royalties and performance royalties. For 2022, the band was scheduled to launch a fifty-date tour of North America beginning May 27 in San Diego, California. Those shows would support a new album titled "Raw", due for release on July 22 by Shelter Records/BMG. The LP would be issued on 180-gram vinyl, CD and through digital platforms, and is dedicated "in righteous memory of Dusty Hill." The band was also planning on recording new music with Hill's replacement, Elwood Francis.
Plans for 2023 included joining forces with Lynyrd Skynyrd for a 23-date tour slated to kick off on July 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida and wrap up on September 17 in Camden, N.J. That tour was later extended into the following year for the Sharp Dressed Simple Man 2024 Tour. Dates in the UK in June and July were included.
Whether it was by design or chance, ZZ Top are doomed to be the last entry of every music encyclopedia.
