ZZ Top

Three men from Texas who found one sound in 1969 and spent fifty years refusing to improve on it. ZZ Top came together in Houston after Billy Gibbons's psychedelic band the Moving Sidewalks fell apart — drummer Frank Beard sought Gibbons out, then brought bassist Dusty Hill across from their old group American Blues. Tres Hombres made them a national act in 1973 on the back of La Grange, Fandango! gave them their first Top 40 single with Tush in 1975, and Eliminator turned a boogie band in their thirties into MTV fixtures in 1983 with Gimme All Your Lovin', Sharp Dressed Man, and Legs.

The lineup held for over five decades, which almost nothing in rock does. Fifteen studio albums, an estimated 50 million records, three MTV Video Music Awards, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. Dusty Hill died in July 2021 and was replaced, at his own request, by the band's longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis. Frank Beard died on August 17, 2026, leaving Billy Gibbons as the last of the three — and leaving behind a shuffle that a great many drummers can play and very few can make sound like that.