Highlights of Texas legends ZZ Top!
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Perhaps the most unlikely candidate for rock superstardom, Texas trio ZZ Top nevertheless proved to be one of the most famous and best-selling musical acts of the '80s. With their trademark hats, glasses and, above all, their mighty beards, ZZ Top were definitely unlike any other band in the world, and they had their own sound: classic, dirty rhythm and blues in a distinctly modern interpretation with the addition of drum machines and synthesisers on their 80s recordings... Today we will recall the most interesting and striking facts about this legendary and rather surprising project....
Drummer Frank Beard is the only band member without a beard
Of course, it has long been noted as ironic that Byrd, despite his meaningful nickname, is the only member of the trio not lucky enough to have facial hair. Although the drummer has sported a bushy beard over the years, he now generally makes do with just a moustache or a small beard. As hard as it may be to imagine now, Gibbons and Hill didn't always wear such luxurious chin warmers! They had already played in ZZ Top for ten years before adopting the distinctive look, and it wasn't a far-fetched move: reunited after a long holiday, Gibbons and Hill let their beards grow, after which the musicians decided to keep them...
The band's name was inspired by B.B. King
Billy Gibbons founded ZZ Top in 1969. Being a passionate blues fan, Gibbons conceived the name as a play on words, a reference to blues legend B.B. King! After considering switching to ZZ King, Gibbons settled on ZZ Top, reasoning that "the king should stay on top".
At first, Gibbons played alongside bassist Lanier Greig and drummer Dan Mitchell. They were soon replaced by bassist Billy Ethridge and drummer Frank Beard. Then, when Ethridge left, Dusty Hill joined, and this line-up remained unchanged since 1970.
They have sold over 50 million albums worldwide
To date, ZZ Top have released 15 studio albums, four live albums, and eight best-of compilations. In total, more than 50 million units have been sold worldwide (25 million in the United States alone), placing them among the 30 best-selling rock artists in music history... ZZ Top's best-selling album is 1983's Eliminator, which included some of their most fan-favourite songs, including "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs".
Eliminator has diamond status in the US with sales of over 10 million. It has also gone multi-platinum in the UK, France, Australia and Finland!
They once turned down a $1 million offer from Gillette, the condition of which was to shave off their beards
At the height of their success in 1984, ZZ Top was approached by none other than men's shaving giants Gillette with a lucrative offer to participate in an advertising campaign. Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill were offered a million dollars to shave off their beards for the proposed advert! But like true Texas boys, they turned it down, opting for their luxurious beards.....
Reflecting on the offer in 2012, Gibbons said he regretted nothing. He also added that he wouldn't do it even today, explaining, "The prospect of seeing myself in the mirror with a clean-shaven face is too close to a Vincent Price film."
Jimi Hendrix called Billy Gibbons one of his favourite guitarists
Before forming ZZ Top, guitarist Billy Gibbons played with another band, the Moving Sidewalks, who had the biggest success opening for the late rock legend Jimi Hendrix on a US tour. The two became friends as a result, and in interviews Hendrix referred to Gibbons as one of his favourite guitarists.
The hotrod featured in their music videos belongs to Billy Gibbons
You could say that ZZ Top has a fourth member in the form of the iconic red hotrod featured in most of their music videos and on the cover of their album Eliminator. What's more! "The Eliminator" is actually the car's nickname, and it's actually the property of guitarist Billy Gibbons, who customised it in the early 80s.
Assembled to Gibbons' specifications by California-based Don Thelan's Buffalo Motor Cars, the Eliminator is largely made up of 1930s Ford parts. Its identity is further emphasised by the ZZ Top logo on the sides.
One day they went on a tour with buffalo, rattlesnakes and other dangerous wild animals
Stadium rock really became popular in the 1970s, and every major band competed to put on a bigger and wilder show. To that end, so did ZZ Top embark on a tour in 1976, with which they hoped to introduce international audiences to a taste of their state... On this daring tour, the band was joined on stage by the wild animals of Texas, including wild buffalo, venomous rattlesnakes, tarantulas and vultures! It sounds crazy and more than a little unsafe, but Gibbons insists that "animal rights groups were always present to make sure these critters were properly cared for."
They recorded original songs for Back to the Future 3 and From Dusk Till Dawn
Given that ZZ Top look like they fell straight out of the Old West, the band was chosen to create the theme music for the 1990s film Back to the Future 3, the latest instalment of the time-travelling comedy series set largely in 1885. ZZ Top's track "Doubleback" appears in the film's end credits, and the band also appears in the film itself, playing an old-fashioned acoustic version of the song.
It's not the only original track that ZZ Top wrote and recorded for the film: there's also "She's Just Killing Me," featured in Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's 1996 crime thriller/vampire horror From Dusk Till Dawn.
Their music played in space
ZZ Top's music is known all over the world, it has even been played in outer space! In 2011, their previously unreleased song "Flyin 'High" was played publicly for the first time on the Soyuz spacecraft while it was en route to the International Space Station. Unfortunately, it was just a pre-recording of the track and ZZ Top didn't actually perform it in space, though we're sure it was an epic moment nonetheless.
Their song "I Gotsta Get Paid" is a cover of the rap track
It's inexcusable to think that a band as old as ZZ Top would stick to their roots in old-fashioned blues-rock... But even now, the band take a sometimes surprisingly eclectic approach! Their 2012 single "I Gotsta Get Paid" - the band's latest commercially successful single to date, taken from their album La Futura - may sound like vintage ZZ Top, but it's actually a cover of a rap track!
The track is a reworking of the song "25 Lighters" by DJ DMD, The Inner Soul Clique, a rap crew from Houston, Texas, where the original 1998 recording of the song was a huge success.
