Black sunglasses and great big bushy beards. Bluesy riffs and down-home Texas charm. We can only be talking about one band: ZZ Top, the world-famous trio formed by guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Lanier Greig, and drummer Dan Mitchell in 1969. Today the lineup has changed slightly – Dusty Hill and Frank Beard have since replaced Greig and Mitchell – but ZZ Top has a more than 50-year history of being a true legend of rock and roll.

Pop Culture Kings

Believe it or not, back during their initial formation ZZ Top wasn’t the pop culture powerhouse they are today. In fact, it took them a good decade to get their creative feet under them, as it wasn’t until the late 1970s that they adopted their signature long beards and blues-rock sound. The early 1980s absolutely catapulted them into the limelight, though, especially with the rise of MTV; ZZ Top’s music videos were the stuff of legend, and hits like Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, and Gimme All Your Lovin have securely entered into pop culture’s collective unconscious, there to stay.

Building Success on Success

ZZ Top has had some incredible staying power. So much more than just a quirky classic rock band from the 80s, Billy Gibbons and company have parlayed their early successes into an entire half-century career, releasing 15 studio albums and selling more than 50 million records worldwide. They’re inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, have three MTV Music Video Awards to their name, and Gibbons himself was rated as one of the 100 best guitarists of all time by Rolling Stone. And they’re still touring and making music to this day!