ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons on his love of beards, cars, guitars and his secret Aussie passion

They sport the most famous beards in the history of rock music and ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbon reveals the one thing fans are desperate to know about their facial furniture.

ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and his Aussie mate Jimmy Barnes share the same regret about the first time they toured together in the US in the 1980s.

Barnes was four years into his solo career after Cold Chisel disbanded in 1983, and had an eye on cracking America, buoyed by the success of his first two albums in Australia.

The Aussie rocker and the Texan trio were introduced by their shared engineer Joe Hardy and Barnes was booked as ZZ Top’s opening act on an American tour in 1987.

It was winter and, in some cities, the bands were playing on stages erected on top of an ice-floor in skating rinks.

Barnes was not well known in the US and impatient fans of the headliners made their displeasure felt by throwing coins at the Aussie frontman.

ZZ Top Billy Gibbons with Jimmy Barnes in 2019. Picture: Supplied.

Gibbons remembers those gigs well for a missed opportunity to boost the box-office takings.

“It was too bad we didn’t have a shovel,” the ZZ Top legend says ahead of his Australian tour.

“The coins froze to the plywood flooring it was that cold, so we couldn’t get at them.”

ZZ Top, with their blues rock mates George Thorogood & The Destroyers, return to Australia to headline the upcoming leg of the Red Hot Summer Tour and a clutch of arena concerts.

The Texan trio formed in 1969 but hit its stride – and the upper regions of the pop charts – in the mid 1980s.

It was three songs, or rather the music videos for them, from the 1983 record Eliminator that made unlikely superstars out of the band members.

ZZ Top rode the wave as Countdown in Australia and MTV worldwide became the star-makers when video killed the radio star.

ZZ Top bringing the hipster beard energy to the rock stage. Picture: Supplied.

With Gimme All Your Lovin’, Sharp Dressed Man and Legs, the vintage cars, the fancy guitars and those striking beards, Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard (ironically the only member of the trio unable to cultivate extreme facial hair and who is sitting out this tour due to health issues), became pop stars.

“We were the opposite of the pretty boys; I think our band motto is we are immune to fashion,” Gibbons says.

Bassist Hill died in 2021, with his long-time guitar tech Elwood Francis stepping in as his replacement at the late musician’s request.

Francis not only could play ZZ Top’s catalogue after years on the road with the band but he had the other necessary qualification to officially join the band – a long beard.

The most common question Gibbons fields about his distinctive facial furniture, even in this hipster beard era, is a surprising one.

“The truth is we got lazy, that’s the bottom line,” Gibbons says, confirming the band’s trademark was the result of not shaving while on holidays.

“Frank, our fearless drummer, the man with no beard, he did try it, he gave it a go, and then he threw in the towel.

“But the last question about the beards, which we have never been able to answer, is ‘Do you sleep with the beard under the covers or over the covers?’

“It’s a continual inquiry, but we will never know the answer because we’re sound asleep.”

ZZ Top bassist Elwood Francis with his 17-string guitar. Picture: YouTube

Francis has also propelled ZZ Top back into the video realm, where viral clips of veteran rockers and their music finds them a new audience among the era agnostic TikTok, YouTube and Instagram content creators.

The bassist was internet surfing and found a yellow 17-guitar on a Chinese website and sent a screenshot to Gibbons, suggesting they order the gargantuan instrument for the laughs.

The band agreed they would whip out the hilarious guitar for one song. The internet had other ideas and since 2022, Francis has had to struggle with that preposterous behemoth at every gig.

“I thought it was over (after the first gig), but the son of a bitch went viral, and I woke up to all these messages and links to all this f---king bullshit,” Francis told Guitar World.

“I was cringing because I knew I was struggling to play that piece of shit. I’m like, ‘Great. Of all the things to happen … Now that I got this reaction, Billy’s never going to let me not play it.’

“I was thinking, ‘If I can just get through this … it’s just one song, and I’ll never have to play it again.’ But now I’ve got to play it (every night).”

ZZ Top lead singer and guitarist Billy Gibbons loves cars and guitars … and Aboriginal art. Picture: John Gass

Gibbons says the electric guitar, as an instrument for musical creation and performance, remains as powerful even in the dominant era of pop, hip hop and dance.

“I was just visiting the Gibson guitar factory and one of the head guys came over, and I said ‘Wow, it’s quite fascinating to see this and in the back, I see there’s several trucks leaving the building.

“He said ‘Yes, they’re full, from top to bottom, back to front. We just can’t figure out where they’re going (eventually), but every day there’s a load going out.

“So I guess the guitar still seems to be quite popular.”

Gibbons will indulge another passion on his Australian tour, adding to his collection of Aboriginal art.

“There’s some real fascination behind what a piece of work means; it’s not only a visual treat but the story that accompanies it makes it so fascinating,” he says.

For all ZZ Top dates and tickets for the Red Hot Summer shows, which open in Bendigo on April 26, https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/ and for all Elevation shows kicking off at Adelaide’s AEC Arena on April 29, details via livenation.com.au

Originally published as ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons on his love of beards, cars, guitars and his secret Aussie passion