The US blues rock band ZZ Top formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. It was not until 1981 that the first ZZ Top tour started in Germany. Two years later, the band achieved its international breakthrough with the album "Eliminator". ZZ Top's trademarks are not only their distinctive guitar riffs, trench coats and sunglasses, but also the long beards of the band members.
The beginnings of ZZ Top
Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill meet for the first time in 1969 at a Halloween party gig. Dusty Hill is performing that day with his band American Blues, which includes drummer Frank Beard. Gibbons, Hill and Beard spontaneously improvise a few tunes together - and play their first gig as a band in this line-up in Beaumont in the US state of Texas in 1970.
Billy Gibbons comes up with the name ZZ Top for the newly formed band. Posters of artists like D. C. Bender, Z. Z. Hill and B. B. King in his flat give him the idea to use catchy initials.
ZZ Top - A Long Road to Success
The trio record their debut album "ZZ Top's First Album" a few months after the band's formation, which is released in January 1971. The big breakthrough - just like a year later with "Rio Grande Mud" - was still a long time coming. It was not until 1973 that the album "Tres Hombres" made it into the Top Ten of the US charts. While ZZ Top celebrated increasing success in the USA, the band remained largely unknown in Europe at first.
It was only after a memorable television appearance on ARD's Rockpalast in 1980 and a ZZ Top tour of Europe that the band achieved its first placing in the German album charts with "El Loco" in 1981. In October 1981, ZZ Top go on tour through Germany for the first time.
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ZZ Top's shows thrill the fans. Numerous other tours through Europe follow, tickets for ZZ Top are quickly sold out. Many of the studio and live albums released after 1981 now find themselves in the Top 20 of the German album charts. The band with the distinctive beards has a breakthrough in Europe.
What makes up the sound of ZZ Top?
Anyone who has been to a ZZ Top show knows the score: the knotty mix of Texas blues, rock and boogie combined with the personalities of the band members is simply unbeatable. The band places the highest value on excellent sound in the studio as well as at live performances. This attention to detail is also appreciated by the audience, which has grown along with them over the decades and naturally sings along to hits like "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'" at the top of their lungs.
ZZ Top - Decades in the Original Formation
Until the death of bassist Dusty Hill on 27 July 2021, ZZ Top played unchanged in the same line-up as when the band was formed in 1969 and are thus considered the longest-playing original line-up band ever. As Hill had wished before his death, Elwood Francis, ZZ Top's long-time guitar technician, now shows his skills on the bass - and has grown a long beard that almost looks like his predecessor. The cult band ZZ Top continues to tour in the new formation.
ZZ Top's greatest successes
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Among ZZ Top's numerous albums, these seven make it into the top ten of the German album charts:
- "Afterburner"
- "Recycler"
- "The Greatest Hits"
- "Antenna"
- "Rhythmeen"
- "Mescalero"
- "La Futura"
