

Where most veteran artists turn to Rick Rubin for a back-to-basics reboot, ZZ Top’s 2012 dalliance with the famed producer yielded “I Gotsta Get Paid,” a sleazy, grease-fried reinterpretation of DJ DMD’s Houston-rap standard “25 Lighters. Since then, ZZ Top have kept on rollin’ past the half-century mark, and they remain the rare classic-rock institution that always keeps its ear to the ground for fresh inspiration.

#Zz top greatest hits artwork series#
And it wasn’t just their appearance that had changed: With 1983’s blockbuster Eliminator, ZZ Top crosswired their gritty grooves with New Wave synths and sequencers to the tune of over 10 million copies sold, while a series of videos featuring hot models cruising around in the album cover’s customized vintage Ford Coupe made the band icons of the then-nascent MTV. Though ZZ Top often played the part of Southern showmen with their cowboy hats and Nudie suits, by the early ‘80s, Gibbons and bassist Dusty Hill had grown out their beards past their chests, lending this workmanlike band a quirky visual trademark just in time for the music-video era. But thanks to guitarist Billy Gibbons’ pedigree in ‘60s garage outfit The Moving Sidewalks, horndog rave-ups like “Tush” and “La Grange” eschewed epic, Skynyrd-sized jams for a raw, raunchy energy tailor-made for a target demographic of (as another one of their early standards put it) beer drinkers and hell raisers. View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1992 CD release of 'Greatest Hits' on Discogs. Upon forming in Houston in 1969, ZZ Top were among a wave of Southern rock bands outfitting bluesy, British Invasion-schooled riffs with countrified fingerpicking and desert-baked grooves. The strangest thing about ZZ Top is that they can lay claim to being both the dirtiest no-nonsense blues-rock band of the ‘70s and the glitziest camera-ready electro-boogie group of the ‘80s. ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.The only member of ZZ Top without a beard is drummer Frank Beard, but that’s just the second-strangest thing about this Texan trio. We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C,’” the surviving members said in a statement at the time. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. “We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX. “We are excited to invest in ZZ Top’s iconic music and we look forward to collaborating with BMG and ZZ Top to further amplify the reach of their catalog,” KKR partner Jenny Box said in a statement. This agreement furthers our vision of providing artists and songwriters not just a financial exit, but also a vehicle committed to respecting and treasuring their artistry,” BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said in a statement. “This deal is a testament to the success, staying power and continuing musical relevance of ZZ Top, but also to the power of our partnership with KKR. They’ve released 15 albums across five decades, and famously appeared in “Back to the Future III.” The bearded band hit it big in the 1980s on MTV thanks to catchy songs and eye-catching videos for songs like “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man.” At their core, the trio of Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill were a down-and-dirty blues band from Houston, cranking out greasy rockers and slyly sleazy boogies about 'Tush,' a 'Pearl Necklace,' and 'Legs. ZZ Top – guitarist and vocalist Billy Gibbons, bassist, keys and vox Dusty Hill, and drummer Frank Beard – formed in the early 1970s, playing blues-influenced rock. ZZ Top call themselves 'that little ol band from Texas,' a deceptively clever designation that explains everything about the trio while underselling their deep idiosyncrasies.
