<\/p>\n
\n\tZZ Top drummer Frank Beard will be absent from the group\u2019s upcoming tour plans, citing a \u201chealth issue\u201d as the reason for his newly-announced leave of absence.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Texas trio announced the news on Saturday (March 15), explaining that Beard would be absent from the group\u2019s current Elevation tour due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cShelter Music Group, ZZ Top\u2019s management, has announced the band\u2019s drummer, Mr. Frank Beard, has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term,\u201d a social media post<\/a> from the band read.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBeard, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe post noted that Douglas has \u201cmaintained a close relationship with Beard and the bandmates,\u201d and had even sat in for Beard during a Paris performance in October 2002 when he underwent an emergency appendectomy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe is looking forward to a speedy recovery,\u201d the post concluded.<\/p>\n \n\tZZ Top launched their Elevation tour in October 2024, and toured throughout the U.S. until November. The trek resumed on March 5, and will see the group performing across the country until April, when they visit Australia and New Zealand. Further North American dates will be held upon their return, though it\u2019s currently unknown when Beard will resume his place behind the kit.<\/p>\n \n\tBeard 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tFollowing Grieg\u2019s replacement by Billy Ethridge, Dusty Hill assumed the role of bassist in 1970, with their lineup remaining unchanged for 51 years until Hill\u2019s death<\/a> at 72 in 2021. Elwood Francis has since served as the group\u2019s bassist.<\/p>\n \n\tThe group have not released a studio album since 2012\u2019s La Futura<\/em>, though Gibbons has claimed<\/a> a new record featuring contributions from the late Hill is in the works.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n