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The Latest Breaking News from Dusty Hill

“I don’t belong on TV, I should be in a circus!”: How ZZ Top’s Afterburner continued one of the most unlikely success stories of the 80s

ZZ Top hit big with Eliminator. So they repeated the formula with Afterburner

Louder

“As for the lyrics, it’s not exactly Bob Dylan. But it felt good from a musician standpoint”: How a half-live album, a monster hit and a travelling zoo helped three Texas icons play to 1.2 million people

Buffalo, buzzards and Tush? ZZ Top’s Fandango album saw the Little Ol’ Band From Texas go nationwide

Louder

“We discovered pretty early on that we were not going to succeed by trying to emulate the likes of Bob Dylan. There are some very strange things on ZZ Top records”: Billy Gibbons on ZZ’s blues roots, ’80s mega-hits and their unique “sense of weird”

“In Texas there’s still a little of that gunslinger mentality in the air”

MusicRadar

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"We were increasingly attracted to the beats, yet the Allman Brothers remain some of our biggest heroes." How ZZ Top mixed Depeche Mode and southern rock to deliver one of the biggest songs of 1983

The story of Sharp Dressed Man, the second of the Eliminator video trilogy that catapulted ZZ Top into pop culture superstardom

Louder

“Jeff Beck arranged delivery with Marshall’s first factory arrival into the States, loading ZZ Top’s stage with stacks”: Billy Gibbons tells the tale of how an accident with a knife –and a British guitar great – set them up to conquer the ’80s

How Billy Gibbons unleashed the power of his holy grail '59 Les Paul Standard for the Texan blues-rock legend's “in-between” classic, El Loco –and set the stage for ZZ Top's domination of the decade

Guitar World

“We were still gluing the fur on the tuning keys when the FedEx driver showed up”: Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac and ZZ Top basses top the biggest four-string sales at historic Jim Irsay auction

The late billionaire’s sensational instrument collection has gone under the hammer, including some very notable basses

Guitar World

ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons claims Gillette offered him and Dusty Hill 1m to shave beards for an advert

ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons has claimed safety razors company Gillette offered him and his late, great bandmate Dusty Hill $1 million each to shave off their famous long beards for an advert, but the company deny the claim.

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“Even today, that instrument is fascinating. I’ve passed it around and players of all sorts have all come to the same conclusion – there is something magic in that instrument”: Billy Gibbons on why Pearly Gates is one of the greatest Les Pauls of all time

All Gibson Les Paul Standards from 1959 are special but what is it about the ZZ Top frontman's Pearly Gates that makes it so unique? As Gibbons says, it might be something entirely supernatural

MusicRadar

“I said, ‘Rick, you think we should take a break?’ And he goes, ‘Oh yeah, we got it on tape three hours ago – we just like hearing you guys play!’”: ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons describes Rick Rubin as a “peculiar” kind of producer

Plus: how the Texan trio created something new out of an old hip-hop track

MusicRadar

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard quits tour to address ‘health issue’

Longtime drummer will be absent from the band’s forthcoming tour, a statement said

The Independent UK

ZZ Top announce Elevation Tour dates for 2025

The shows will hopefully give fans another chance to behold the majesty of Elwood Francis's 17-string bass

Louder

“Billy Gibbons pulls out this big-ass yellow 17-string bass and he’s like, ‘Okay, we’ll play it for a song, right?’” ZZ Top’s Elwood Francis on teching for Joe Perry, lying to Steve Vai – and the curse of playing that viral 17-string bass

The gear-trashing DIY enthusiast once had to choose between Vai and Joe Perry, before being fired and rehired by Guns N’ Roses –in a matter of days

Guitar World

“I said to Billy, ‘We should order one of these, and I’ll play it. It’ll be hilarious.’ Then it went viral. I hate playing that bass. Now I’ve got to play it every night”: Elwood Francis on why he regrets his 17-string bass becoming a ZZ Top staple

Elwood Francis reveals the origins of his preposterous 17-string bass – and why he’s disappointed it went viral

Guitar World

“I'm not the bass player. I'm not in the band. I'll never be in the band. I shouldn't be in the band”: Elwood Francis says he'll never replace ZZ Top's Dusty Hill

Elwood Francis isn't comfortable being bassist in ZZ Top

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

“Dusty is their bass player. I'm not the bass player. I shouldn't be in the band”: Elwood Francis replaced Dusty Hill in ZZ Top – but he still feels uncomfortable about it

Francis originally served as ZZ Top's longtime guitar tech, but took on a completely new role at the behest of Hill's wishes after the bassist passed away

Louder

"They couldn't transport the snakes in the cattle trailer because it upset the Longhorn and the buffalo": How ZZ Top took Texas on the road in the most sanity-defying tour ever staged

ZZ Top's Worldwide Texas Tour featured a plexiglass pyramid filled with rattlesnakes, trained buzzards, a fake wolf, and a night in Pittsburgh one doctor called "the most horrible thing I have seen since World War II"

Guitar World

“Billy drops the line, ‘I'm sending you some sheepskins. I want you to put them on some guitars’”: Dusty Hill’s iconic fur-covered spinning bass from ZZ Top’s Legs video just sold at auction – and absolutely smashed its estimated sale price

The Dean Zelinsky-made model went under the hammer alongside Hill's custom Hot Rod car bass – but both were outsold by the late ZZ Top bassist's vintage 1953 Fender Precision model

Louder

ZZ Top icon Dusty Hill's famous Fender Precision bass guitar sells at auction for $393,700

1953 Fender Precision bass owned and beloved by late ZZ Top star becomes second highest selling bass in auction history

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Guitar World

“When they shot smoke, the crowd went wild!”: Dusty Hill’s Hot Rod car bass, custom built by Wayne Charvel for ZZ Top’s Eliminator tour, hides a few secrets beneath the hood – now it’s up for auction

Check out the automobile-inspired build that powered some of the band’s most iconic appearances in the early-’80s

Metal Hammer

Hilarity ensues as Slash, Dave Mustaine, Rick Nielsen, Dusty Hill, Joey Ramone and more "audition" for the Drew Carey Show

Is this the most star-studded line-up of musicians to ever appear on a comedy show?

Louder

Billy Gibbons has an unfinished song he wrote with Jeff Beck called Chocolate Meatballs

Billy Gibbons reflects on his solo shows, life without Dusty Hill, and new life with Elwood Francis

The Independent UK

New this week: Beyoncé, Shark Week, ESPYS and 'The Gray Man'

This week’s new entertainment releases include Beyoncé’s new album “Renaissance,” Stephen Curry hosting the ESPYS sports awards and the summer thrill ride known as Shark Week returns to Discovery Channel for its 34th year

Louder

The 50 best rock bands of all time

A definitive guide to the very best rock bands to ever have bothered polite society

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