Over a month since ZZ Top announced drummer Frank Beard would be sitting out a number of tour dates over an unspecified “health issue,” it’s been confirmed that his absence will now extend to the band’s forthcoming Australian tour.
In a statement issued on Thursday (April 24), promoters Live Nation explained that Beard will not be joining his bandmates on the forthcoming trek, “as recommended by medical personnel.”
The Texas trio revealed on March 15 that Beard would be absent from the group’s current Elevation tour due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure. “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,” a social media post from the band read.
“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.”
Douglas has long maintained a close relationship with both Beard and his bandmates, having previously sat in for the drummer during a Paris performance in October 2002 when he underwent an emergency appendectomy.
“Beard’s continued physical therapy has shown to be very effective in dealing with the issue that caused him to leave the recent US leg of the tour,” Live Nation’s statement continued. “While cheered by the positive news, band and management believe that his total recovery must be priority #1.
“Beard’s attending physicians have suggested more physical therapy over a longer period would potentially achieve better and longer lasting results, and this will now be his focus.”
Beard has been the drummer of ZZ Top since 1969, when he took over from co-founder Dan Mitchell. Alongside vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons, Mitchell and bassist Lanier Greig had founded the band that same year.
Following Grieg’s replacement by Billy Ethridge, Dusty Hill assumed the role of bassist in 1970, with their lineup remaining unchanged for 51 years until Hill’s death at 72 in 2021. Elwood Francis has since served as the group’s bassist.
The group will embark upon their first Australian tour since 2013 on Saturday, April 26th. The ten-date tour will conclude in mid-May, with a handful of New Zealand tour dates to be followed by an additional North American trek in June. The band’s 51-date trek will run through until October.
