ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard steps away from tour due to medical issue

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard is taking a leave of absence due to an upcoming medical procedure. 

On Sunday, the band’s official Instagram account announced that Beard, 75, will be stepping away from their Elevation Tour to tend to “a health issue.”

“Shelter Music Group, ZZ Top’s management, has announced the band’s drummer, Mr. Frank Beard, has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term,” the message read.

DUSTY HILL, ZZ TOP BASSIST, DEAD AT 72

“Beard, along with fellow ZZ Top members Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis, presently on the Elevation tour since March 5, have engaged fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer, John Douglas, for the interim.”

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“Mr. Douglas has maintained a close relationship with Beard and bandmates, having served with the group in the past.” 

“He is looking forward to a speedy recovery,” the post concluded.

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This isn’t the first time a health concern has affected the band and its members. 

In 2021, the band announced the sudden death of their longtime guitarist, Dusty Hill. 

“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX,” the band said in a statement to Fox News at the time. “We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top.'”

“We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C,'” the statement continued. “You will be missed greatly, amigo.”

At the time, Hill had been dealing with a health concern related to a hip issue, the band had previously revealed, adding that they were awaiting “a speedy recovery” and hoping to “have him back pronto.”