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ZZ Top music biography continued...

percussion), Billy Gibbons (lead vocals, guitar) and Dusty Hill (vocals, bass, keyboards). The latter two would become known for their trademark scruffy clothes, sunglasses and chest-length beards. The story goes that they originally wanted to name themselves after their hero, B.B. King, and chose Z.Z. King, later changing it to ZZ Top when it sounded too similar to the blues icon's moniker. ZZ Top played their first show in February, 1970, and toured Texas almost continuously for the next several years, soon after signing with London Records and delivering their first two albums, ZZ Top's First Album and Rio Grande Mud. The band broke through with their third album, Tres Hombres (1973), featuring ZZ's classic hit "La Grange," as well as tracks like "Waitin' for the Bus" and its immediate follower "Jesus Just Left Chicago" which became fan favorites and rock-radio staples. By September 1974, ZZ Top was drawing tens of thousands to shows such as the Labor Day stadium concert in Austin, Texas dubbed "ZZ Top's First Annual Texas-Size Rompin' Stompin' Barndance and Bar-B-Q." A year-long tour in 1976, "The Worldwide Texas Tour," was one of the largest-grossing road trips in rock at the time. Onstage with the band were snakes, longhorn cattle, buffalo, cactus, and other Southwestern paraphernalia. With 1983's album Eliminator, the three good ole' boys from Texas found true superstardom, exporting their music all over the United States through a perpetual round of videos on MTV. The album ultimately sold 10 million copies and put ZZ Top at the top of the good times rock heap.



Though ZZ Top reached peak commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, scoring many hit songs during that era, they remain together today and are still touring and releasing albums. The band holds the distinction of being among the few rock bands still composed of its original recording members for nearly 40 years and until September 2006, the same manager and producer, Bill Ham. ZZ Top were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2004, earning the music industry's ultimate honor.