Frank Beard, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer of boogie rock trio ZZ Top, dies at 77
By MARK KENNEDY
NEW YORK (AP) — Frank Beard, the drummer for the Texas boogie rock trio ZZ Top who kept the tempo for the band’s biggest hits like “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs” and “Gimme All Your Lovin,’” has died. He was 77.
Beard was in hospice care when he died Tuesday at his ranch in Richmond, Texas, with family members at his side, according to publicist Bob Merlis. Band co-founder and guitarist Billy Gibbons, on tour with bassist Elwood Francis, hailed Beard in a statement.
“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. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top. The band of which he was part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished,” Gibbons said.
FILE – Billy Gibbons, from left, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard of ZZ Top, perform in Monaco on July 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
FILE – ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard, from left, lead singer and guitarist Billy F. Gibbons and bass player Dusty Hill appear at the 19th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York on March 15, 2004. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg, File)
FILE – Dusty Hill, from left, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard of ZZ Top appear at the “American Idol” finale in Los Angeles on May 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
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FILE – Billy Gibbons, from left, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard of ZZ Top, perform in Monaco on July 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)
ZZ Top sold more than 50 million records and had six singles that reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. Seven of their albums have been in the Billboard 200’s Top 10 and they earned three Grammy Award nominations.
“I’ve found the people I was meant to play with,” Beard says in the 2019 documentary “ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas.” “I never wanted to quit, and never wanted to get fired.”
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