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Frank Beard – The ZZ Top’s Fuel

Frank Lee Beard is a drummer for the rock band ZZ top. He was born on 11 June 1949 in Frankston, Texas. Frank is known as one of the most talented drummers on the music scene. He was a member of many different bands before joining the ZZ band. This includes The Cellar Dwellers, The Hustlers, The Warlocks, and The American Blues. 

These laid the right foundation for performing and recording with Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill and the top drummer for ZZ.  And he has never disappointed the team since he started working with them. Frank Lee Beard showed interest in drums at a very early age. He started practicing the instruments while he was still a young boy. 

Frank Beard
frank beard

When he joined Irving Highschool in Irving, Texas, it gave him a chance to improve his skills as he met friends who would motivate him. As 1969 came to a close, he significantly boosted The Moving Sideways guitarist and vocalist Gibbons, forming the ZZ Top. 

Frank introduced Gibbons to Dusty Hill, with whom they had played in American Blues, Warlocks, and Cellar Dwellers bands. Hill was a great vocalist then, and it gave the team a good time to work on many projects that would take the band to higher levels.  The group honed their trademark Texas Boogie-Blues-Rock style and released their “ZZ Top’s First Album” at the start of 1971 under London Records.

Starting ZZ was an excellent opportunity for the drummer to prove his skills as a great musician and reliable team member. Frank was then known as ‘Rube’  and mainly was called ‘Rube Beard,’ even to their first album. On their second album, he is listed by real name on Rio Grande Mud. It’s the same nickname he goes by on Tres Hombres, their third album. All the albums from the band list him by the nickname.

If you thought he is called “beard” because he has a huge beard, think again. He is the only member in the ZZ band that does not have a bead. He usually just wears a mustache, although he did have a tidy mustache in the 90s. In a nutshell, Frank is the second official member of the ZZ Top bandFrank took up mainly drumming to impress the ladies after seeing how they reacted to The Beatles. It gave him the fuel he needed to start working on his career seriously.

Frank Beard Performing
Frank Beard Performing

He has been friends with Dusty even before ZZ Top, and that friendship led to the creation of impressive music. As mentioned earlier, both had worked in other bands together, which made it easier to continue together. Frank is a family man, married to Debbie, and they have twin boys. He also has a daughter from his former marriage.

Drumming is not the only thing Frank is passionate about.  He has a thing for cars, especially Ferraris. He has driven in sanctioned national races. Also, he is a golfer. His practical jokes keep the team together, and his drumming skills take them to the world.

What do you think?

Avatar Of Andrea

Written by Andrea

Andrea is a music lover and an experienced drummer with more than 15 years of drumming with different bands and music projects, such as Seditius and Hermano & the Marines.

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