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Breaking: ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard dies aged 77
Key Points
Frank Beard, the drummer for Texas boogie-rock trio ZZ Top, has died aged 77. Beard kept tempo for the band's biggest hits like Sharp Dressed Man, Legs and Gimme Beard was in hospice care when he died on Tuesday, local time, at his ranch in Texas, with family members at his side, according to publicist Bob Merlis.
Frank Beard, the drummer for Texas boogie-rock trio ZZ Top, has died aged 77.
Beard kept tempo for the band's biggest hits like Sharp Dressed Man, Legs and Gimme All Your Lovin'.
Beard was in hospice care when he died on Tuesday, local time, at his ranch in Texas, with family members at his side, according to publicist Bob Merlis.
Lead singer Billy Gibbons confirmed Beard's death on Instagram, saying the world had lost "one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas".
"His signature back beat was key to keeping ZZ on top," Gibbons wrote.
The statement added that the band had cancelled upcoming shows following Beard's death, with plans to keep Austin dates, "a city that had been something of a second home for him".
ZZ Top sold more than 50 million records and had six singles that reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Seven of their albums have been in the Billboard 200's Top 10, and they earned three Grammy Award nominations.
"I've found the people I was meant to play with," Beard said in the 2019 documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas.
"I never wanted to quit, and never wanted to get fired."
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