ZZ Top

ZZ Top is an American hard rock and blues-rock trio formed in Houston, Texas in 1969 by guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons, with bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard rounding out the lineup. Managed and produced for decades by Bill Ham, the band built its reputation on gritty Texas blues fused with boogie rock, sly humor and an unmistakable visual identity built around long beards worn by Gibbons and Hill (Beard, ironically, kept his face clean-shaven).

The band scored its breakthrough hit with «La Grange» in 1974, a boogie riff built on a Texas blues legend, before evolving toward a slicker, synthesizer-inflected sound in the 1980s. Their 1983 album Eliminator became their commercial peak, driven by MTV-friendly singles «Gimme All Your Lovin'», «Sharp Dressed Man» and «Legs», which paired their blues foundation with drum machines and synth textures.

ZZ Top is widely regarded as one of the most influential blues-rock acts in American music, celebrated for combining raw guitar tone with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about cars, women and Texas life. The trio held the record as the longest-running band with an unchanged lineup until Dusty Hill's death in 2021, cementing their legacy as one of rock's most durable and stylistically consistent acts.