ZZ Top bassist cut status as one of kind
Gave spirit to one of rock’s most lasting acts
Dusty Hill, the bearded, understated bassist who helped make ZZ Top one of the biggest rock acts of the late 1970s and ’80s, died July 28 at his home in Houston, Texas. He was 72.
Bob Merlis, the band’s publicist, confirmed the death but did not give a cause. ZZ Top was in the middle of a tour when they announced last week that Hill was “on a short detour back to Texas, to address a hip issue.”
“Per Dusty’s request,” they said, “‘The show must go on!’ ”
Formed in Houston in 1969, ZZ Top was one of rock’s most durable bands, with a lineup that remained the same for more than 50 years. Hill was joined onstage by lead singer and guitarist Billy Gibbons, whose boogie-style blues riffs established him as one of his generation’s finest rock guitarists, and drummer Frank Beard, who despite his name was the only band member not to have a foot-long beard.
Although they called themselves “that little ol’ band from Texas,” ZZ Top grew into an international sensation by the early 1980s, launched to fame in part by extravagant tours and MTV music videos filled with hot rods and strutting young women. In the video for their 1984 single Legs — it was one of their two Top 10 hits, along with the 1985 single Sleeping Bag — Mr. Hill and Beard spun a pair of custom fur-covered guitars.
While the band adapted to pop trends, incorporating synthesizers and drum machines in response to the rise of new wave, their music remained blues-rock.
One of their most enduring hits, the FM radio staple La Grange, was a 1973 ode to a small-town brothel, later immortalized by author and playwright Larry L. King as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Joseph Michael Hill was born in Dallas on May 19, 1949. His mother introduced him to blues records.
When he was in his late teens, he and his brother Rocky formed a garage rock band, American Blues, with drummer Frank Beard, a fellow North Texas native. They grew their hair long and, to match their name, dyed it blue.
“In the ’60s, having long hair in Texas, you took your life in your hands,” Hill said in 2008. “But having long hair and blue hair, people just assumed we were nuts and left us alone.”