ZZ Top is getting their Beard back, again.
In this case the Beard is Frank Beard, 76, the band’s drummer and, ironically, the only member of the iconic rock trio not to sport facial hair.
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During the band’s latest stretch of touring, the drummer had been sidelined since the Aug. 14 show in Lincoln, Neb. He’s now set to return to the band’s Elevation Tour on Sept. 5 in Tulsa, Okla.
“The doctors did what they did so now I’m able to do what I do. Happy that It’s back to band business as usual,” Beard said in a statement.
This was the second time this year that Beard had been sidelined. The drummer was first forced to leave the tour back in March due to an unspecified “health issue.”
Drummer John Douglas had been sitting in for Beard on the dates he was unable to play.
According to a statement released through ZZ Top’s press representative in May, the band’s management said Beard was suffering from “foot and ankle issues,” but he was prepared to play through the tour’s completion on Oct. 10 in Terre Haute, Ind.
The tour has since been extended through Nov. 22 with a slew of new dates added, including Oct. 31, Halloween, at the Palms Casino Resort Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas, Nov. 4 at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, and the finale on Nov. 22 at the IP Casino Resort & Spa in Biloxi, Miss.
For the complete list of tour dates, visit ZZTop.com.
“We’re happy that Frank is back with [bassist] Elwood [Francis] and yours truly, BFG. We missed him and are looking forward to turning it up and rocking out with him as has been the case for the last few hundred or so decades,” frontman Billy Gibbons, 75, said in a statement back in May. “His complete recovery is cause for celebration and that’s just what we intend to do on an open-ended basis. Welcome back, pardner!”
ZZ Top’s original bassist Dusty Hill, 72, died in July 2021 and was replaced by Francis, with Hill’s approval before his passing.
For those fans unable to catch ZZ Top live, there’s always their recordings available on all streaming services as well as through a reissue campaign launched by Rhino Records.
Back in July, the label released From the Top (1979-1990), a limited-edition collection featuring five vinyl albums from the height of the band’s popularity–Degüello (1979), El Loco (1981), Eliminator (1983), Afterburner (1985), and Recycler (1990).
