“We’re at a very interesting vortex,” Billy Gibbons says of his little ol’ band from Texas. “The band is enjoying being a hybrid. The legacy of ZZ Top solidified sometime in the not-too-distant past. I purposely say solidified, as in, it can’t be broken up. You could take a sledgehammer to it and the ZZ Top legacy would remain intact.”
That’s quite a statement considering that the original ZZ Top lineup is gone. With the recent death of drummer Frank Beard, coming five years after that of bass guitarist Dusty Hill, in 2021, Gibbons is the lone surviving member. Today, he plays his elecric guitar alongside bassist Elwood Francis and drummer Michael Monahan.
Carrying on without his longtime partners has been an emotional cross to bear. But his former bandmates made it easier by handpicking their replacements, as he explains in a new interview with Texas Monthly.
Gibbons said he received a call from Beard about eight months ago to say he wasn’t feeling up to performing.
“He said, ‘I’m experiencing some weakness in my bass drum foot, maybe up into the calf a little bit,’” Gibbons recalled. “We talked about Mike on that call. It was Frank’s suggestion that Mike keep his seat warm. I said, ‘Are you saying he’s the guy?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I think he felt like he was leaving us in a lurch. And to reassure him, I said, ‘Well, to be quite honest, I think we’re going to be just fine.’ Frank’s remark was, ‘Yeah, that’s what worries me.’ So at least we had a laugh.”
He said the situation was similar with Hill, who passed 10 days after he and Gibbons last spoke.
“Dusty went so quickly. It was stunning,” Gibbons said. He recalled sending Hill back to Texas after he appeared unwell on their post-COVID tour.
“After the performance, I said, ‘Dusty, go to Texas. Go to the doctor. We’ve got a few days off,’” Gibbons recalled. “He said, ‘If for any reason my return is tardy, give it to Elwood. Elwood knows everything. He’s been with us 30 years. You didn’t know this, but Elwood used to teach me bass parts.’ Dusty passed 10 days later.”
He recalled how Francis first fired up the group when he arrived.
“When Elwood stepped in, Frank really lit up. Frank was a curmudgeon. Across 50 years, I rarely saw the guy smile unless he was trying to poke fun at somebody. But once Elwood took the stage, I’d turn around and see Frank constantly looking at Elwood and smiling and laughing at the novelty of having this new guy who was on fire.”
Gibbons said Monahan had a similar impact, although the guitarist admitted their first show gave him a moment’s pause.
“I’d gotten into costume, and as I approached the stage, I was harboring a sense of slight uncertainty,” he recalled. “Then it struck me. I said, ‘Well, it is going to be slightly different, but you’ve been doing this for fifty years. Don’t change anything.’”
Gibbons said he’s received words of support from his fellow musicians that have confirmed he and the band are on the right path.
“I’ve gotten so many calls and texts from friends the last few days that have been reassuring,” the singer noted. “I got a nice one from Keith Richards. He didn’t say the show must go on. He just said, ‘I heard about it. I’ve done it.’ That’s all he said. It meant a lot and gave me a lot to think about.
“For me, the sun isn’t setting,” he continued. “I see it as a bright light. It’s not so different, but then again it is. We miss Dusty and Frank. We loved these guys. They were everything. And yet we’re following their instructions.”
ZZ Top’s U.S. tour continues through mid-October before traveling to Central and South America.
