©Gary MillerZZ TOP earned their nickname as the “little ol’ band from Texas’ around the time they became multi-platinum artists in the early 1970s. Guitarist Billy Gibbons formed the Houston-based trio in 1969 with bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard after his garage rock outfit the Moving Sidewalks broke up. From the start, the three were dedicated to the blues and infused it with massive doses of blistering Texas rock and thundering Southern boogie. ZZ Top worked goodtime blues grooves over the time-honored topics of hot women and sharp-dressed men, fast cars and lowdown whorehouses and just when it seemed their dogged dedication to tradition might make them unhip in the new wave 1980s, they turned into MTV’s most unlikely cool act. Shaggy beards, cheap sunglasses, and lightning bolt keychains became the band's trademark look, a signature style that was played up when the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Ever dedicated to the support of blues, they even raised money for a blues museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi. “We’ve been reinventing ourselves for quite awhile,” says Billy. “In our own way, we’ve made every effort to preserve our precious rock and roll environment.” After three-and-a-half decades, who can argue with that?
ZZ Top
2008 Texas Film Hall of Fame
AMD LIVE! Soundtrack Award
©Gary MillerZZ TOP earned their nickname as the “little ol’ band from Texas’ around the time they became multi-platinum artists in the early 1970s. Guitarist Billy Gibbons formed the Houston-based trio in 1969 with bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard after his garage rock outfit the Moving Sidewalks broke up. From the start, the three were dedicated to the blues and infused it with massive doses of blistering Texas rock and thundering Southern boogie. ZZ Top worked goodtime blues grooves over the time-honored topics of hot women and sharp-dressed men, fast cars and lowdown whorehouses and just when it seemed their dogged dedication to tradition might make them unhip in the new wave 1980s, they turned into MTV’s most unlikely cool act. Shaggy beards, cheap sunglasses, and lightning bolt keychains became the band's trademark look, a signature style that was played up when the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Ever dedicated to the support of blues, they even raised money for a blues museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi. “We’ve been reinventing ourselves for quite awhile,” says Billy. “In our own way, we’ve made every effort to preserve our precious rock and roll environment.” After three-and-a-half decades, who can argue with that?
