Frank Beard, drummer for ZZ Top, dies at 77

HOUSTON – Frank Beard, the longtime drummer for Texas rock band ZZ Top, died this week. He was 77.

What we know:

USA Today reported that a representative for the band said that Beard died Monday while in hospice care in Richmond, Texas.

In a post on social media, founder and lead vocalist-guitarist Bill Gibbons memorialized Beard.

Drummer Frank Beard, of ZZ Top, performs onstage during the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival at Toyota Park on June 26, 2010 in Bridgeview, Illinois. (Barry Brecheisen/WireImage / Getty Images)

What they’re saying:

“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 wrote. “His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.”

Future of band’s ‘The Big One! Tour’

The band said it has canceled upcoming shows as part of it’s “The Big One! Tour” in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. It will resume the concerts this weekend at Austin City Limits.

Gibbons said the venue they’re playing in Austin was one of Beard’s favorites “in a city that had been something of a second home for him.”