“His complete recovery is cause for celebration and that’s just what we intend to do on an open-ended basis,” Billy Gibbons says of drummer’s return
ZZ Top announced Thursday that Frank Beard will rejoin the band for their summer tour following the drummer’s leave of absence due to a then-unspecified “health issue.”
Beard missed the last two months of ZZ Top’s shows after suffering foot and ankle issues that have since been resolved, the group revealed Thursday. The band’s longtime drum tech, John Douglas, filled in for Beard, who will be back behind the kit when ZZ Top continues their Elevation Tour on June 1 in Victoria, British Columbia.
“We’re happy that Frank is back with Elwood [Francis, bassist] and yours truly, BFG,” vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons said in a statement. “We missed him and are looking forward to turning it up and rocking out with him as has been the case for the last few hundred or so decades. His complete recovery is cause for celebration and that’s just what we intend to do on an open-ended basis. Welcome back, pardner!”
Beard added, “It’s good to be back. See you out there.”
ZZ Top’s Elevation Tour is booked through the summer and stretches into October, including stops at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on August 1 and Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Sea.Hear.Now Festival on September 13.
While not the band’s founding drummer — that title goes to Dan Mitchell, who played in Gibbons’ previous band Moving Sidewalks and drummed on ZZ Top’s first single “Salt Lick” — Beard has served as ZZ Top’s drummer for over 55 years, from ZZ Top’s First Album in 1971 through 2012’s La Futura, and has co-written hits like “Legs,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” and “Tush.”
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