ZZ Top

The guys from ZZ Top, with their striking beards, are among the musicians who already achieved legendary status during their lifetime. The three Texans hold the world record as the longest band playing together in the original line-up and have been official heroes of the American state of Texas since 1986, when a certain George W. Bush gave them the title. But three musicians, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, had a long way to go, starting for ZZ TOP in the early 70s.

Bandleader Gibbons already picked up the guitar at the age of 14 and gained experience with various combos. One of his first successful projects was the Moving Sidewalks. With the first single "99th Floor", written by Billy Gibbons, the Moving Sidewalks managed to break up local charts in Texas. More than local fame for Gibbons did not come out with these projects and so the later bandleader started Top in 1970 together with Hill and Beard ZZ. But even this connection didn't prove to be very successful in the beginning and their first two albums flopped. The turning point was the third studio album "Tres Hombres".  

This was followed by the albums Fandango, Tejas and Deguello, which consolidated the reputation of the three US-Americans as musicians with a powerful sound and carried them far beyond the borders of Texas. The ZZ TOP then ignited the afterburners with the 83'er album "Eliminator", which suddenly made ZZ Top known worldwide and on which they further developed their iconic sound. ZZ TOP gave up their reduced sound costume, but synthesizers and overdubs found their way into their songs during this phase. Not every fan of the Texans liked that, but it didn't stop their increasing fame and fame. 

In 1994 there was a return to the old blues sound of the early years with "Antenna". The 11th studio album was a tribute to the radio stations in Texas. Rougher than before and with much more groovy songs, the trio found their way back to the blues. Mega stage superstructures and dozens of naked girls had served their time. ZZ TOP reduced the music back to the essentials and that's probably what many ZZ top fans were waiting for, because the beards are as popular with the audience as ever.