ZZ Top

Latest about ZZ Top

Billy Gibbons in full flow onstage with ZZ Top
Why Billy Gibbons started using a peso as a guitar pick

By Jonathan Horsley Published

From the Archive It pays to keep some change in your pocket. You never know when your tone will need it

3 Comments
From the Archive
Billy Gibbons
Gibson recreates Billy Gibbons’ Pearly Gates Les Paul – and you’ll have to meet the ZZ Top legend in person if you want one

By Phil Weller Published

30 painstaking replicas are being sold exclusively through a private event at Gibson Garage Nashville

Electric Guitars
(L-R) Frank Beard, Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP perform in concert at The Forum on June 19, 1975 in Inglewood, California
Billy Gibbons vows ZZ Top will continue performing, following drummer Frank Beard's death

By Janelle Borg Published

Gibbons confirmed that, as per Beard's wishes, the band is going to “keep on keeping on”, with a Texas show scheduled for this weekend

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Bands
Billy Gibbons [left] plays a custom T-style; B.B. King takes a solo on Lucille.
Billy Gibbons on how B.B. King changed his life

By Andrew Daly Published

At the age of 7, seeing B.B. King lit the path for Gibbons as a blues guitarist. The ZZ Top legend discusses B.B.’s lasting impact

Guitarists
ZZ Top's Dusty Hill [left] and Billy Gibbons get their work clothes on as they perform live in 1981.
“An unabashed element was the constant ferociousness of the guitar tone coming from Pearly Gates”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top’s El Loco

By Andrew Daly Published

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

Guitarists
Jim Irsay bass guitars auction 2026
Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac and ZZ Top basses top the biggest four-string sales at historic Jim Irsay auction

By Phil Weller Published

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

Bass Guitars
Billy Gibbons (left) and Jimi Hendrix perform onstage
When Jimi Hendrix gave Billy Gibbons a guitar lesson unlike any other

By Jackson Maxwell Published

Gibbons' pre-ZZ Top band, the Moving Sidewalks, toured with Hendrix for a time in 1968 – and he got to witness the Strat legend's magic up close

4 Comments
Guitarists
A montage image of Billy Gibbons in a blue suit playing a custom Gibson guitar and B.B. King onstage in 1968 with his Gibson ES-335, Lucille
Billy Gibbons shares the story of the “treasured moment” he sat in on a B.B. King session – as a child

By Matt Parker Published

Long before he got the chance to pick it up for himself, the ZZ Top man found himself in a truly formative session with an icon of electric guitar

Guitarists
Jimi Hendrix and Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons once covered Jimi Hendrix hits while supporting Hendrix on tour

By Phil Weller Published

Few players would have had the nerves to cover Hendrix while supporting him on tour, but Gibbons is made of sterner stuff – and the bold move sparked a lasting friendship

Guitarists
Elwood Francis with his 15-string High Selecta bass – and the two string Waterstone Guitars Sam Hill bass
ZZ Top’s Elwood Francis was saddled with his 17-string bass after a joke appearance went viral – now he’s experimenting with a 2-string build

By Matt Parker Published

The former guitar tech turned ’Top man is continuing to tinker with his live setup, with amusing results

3 Comments
Bassists
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