ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard dead at 77, weeks after Hollywood Bowl cancellation
Frank Beard, the drummer for ZZ Top for more than 50 years, has died.
Beard, 77, died Aug. 17 after a stay in hospice, the Fort Bend County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rosenberg, Texas, told The Post.
His cause of death is unclear, and an autopsy will not be performed, the medical examiner said.
TMZ was first to report Beard’s death.
“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,” bandmate Billy F Gibbons said.
ZZ Top has canceled upcoming shows in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs, the band said. However, the band plans to resume its The Big One! tour this weekend with two performances at Austin City Limits, one of Beard’s favorite venues in a city he considered a second home, a statement said.
ZZ Top was scheduled to play a big show at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug. 5 but canceled only hours before the show was supposed to start.
“The ZZ Top tour has unforeseen personnel matters that have forced the band to cancel its appearance at the Los Angeles landmark,” a statement from the group said the day of the show.
Gibbons also weighed in on the last-minute cancelation.
“Insurmountable obstacles require canceling our Hollywood Bowl performance. Friends, fans and followers of ZZ Top are the best in the business and the band is counting on everyone to bear with us for this brief interruption,” he said.
Gibbons formed ZZ Top in 1969 before bringing in Beard, who introduced him to bassist Dusty Hill, creating the legendary trio that remained together for more than 50 years.
Hill died in 2021 at 72.
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