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ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard’s health was ailing for more than a year before his death on Monday.
As far back as March 2005, the rock band announced on Instagram that Beard was temporarily stepping away from their Elevation tour to “attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term.”
“He is looking forward to a speedy recovery,” the band noted at the time.
Beard eventually returned to the tour in September of that year, and his last performance with ZZ Top was in November 2025.
He was noticeably absent for the band’s The Big One! tour, which started in March, and fans on Reddit noted in May that he hadn’t appeared onstage.
ZZ Top later made headlines when they abruptly canceled their show on Aug. 5 just hours before they were scheduled to perform at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, citing “unforeseen personnel matters.”
Frontman Billy Gibbons shared in a statement at the time, saying that “Insurmountable obstacles require canceling our Hollywood Bowl performance.”
Though the band did not mention Beard’s health at the time, People confirmed less than a week later that the musician was going on leave due to illness and that drummer Michael Monahan would be taking his place.
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Just weeks later, Beard died on Aug. 17 after a stay in hospice, the Fort Bend County Medical Examiner’s Office in Rosenberg, Texas, told The Post.
He was 77 years old.
His cause of death is unclear, and an autopsy will not be performed, the medical examiner said.
Gibbons said in a statement, “Today, [bassist] Elwood [Francis] and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top.”
ZZ Top was formed in 1969 by Gibbons, and included Beard and the late Dusty Hill. Francis later joined to replace Hill after Hill died in his sleep in 2021.
The legendary band has released 15 studio albums and sold an estimated 50 million records. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
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