ZZ Top Bass Player Dusty Hill Dead At 72 - Noise11.com
ZZ Top, Melbourne, Australia, Noise11, Ros O'Gorman, Photo

ZZ Top, Melbourne, Australia, Photo By Ros O'Gorman

ZZ Top Bass Player Dusty Hill Dead At 72

by Paul Cashmere on July 29, 2021

in News

ZZ Top bass player Dusty Hill has died at age 72. While a cause of death has not been announced, it is understood Dusty died in his sleep at his home in Texas.

In a statement Dusty founding ZZ Top partners Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard announced, “We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that “Blues Shuffle in C.”

You will be missed greatly, amigo”.

Joseph ‘Dusty’ Hill formed ZZ Top with Frank Beard and Billy Gibbons in 1969. Until now the line-up had endured over 50 years.

ZZ top’s first album, titled ‘ZZ Top’s First Album’ was released in 1971. The first two records didn’t go anywhere but the third, ‘Tres Hombres’ broke the band with the hit song ‘La Grange’. Australia gave ZZ Top its first Top 40 hit when ‘La Grange’ reached no 18.

The run of hits came in 1983 with the ‘Eliminator’ album. It featured ‘Gimme All Your Lovin’, ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ and ‘Legs’ and starred and featured a new star for MTV videos, Gibbons’ Ford Eliminator.

The ‘Eliminator’ album has sold over 10 million copies in the USA, making it Diamond and it is four times Platinum in Australia.

That television fame earned ZZ Top a cameo in the Back To The Future 2 movie, performing a bluegrass version of their song ‘Doubleback’.

Dusty has appeared in an episode of ‘King of the Hill’ (2007) playing Hank Hill’s cousin.

They have also guested with Charlie Sheen’s ‘Two and a Half Men’.

Hill with ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Hill’s death brings to an end one of the world’s longest enduring rock line-ups.

ZZ Top performed their last show on this week (25 July, 2021) in Kentucky but Dusty was not present. Instead, the band’s guitar tech Elwood Francis filled in.

Dusty’s last show with ZZ Top was 24 July, 2021 in Goshen, Indiana. His final setlist was:

Got Me Under Pressure (from Eliminator, 1983)
I Thank You (Sam & Dave cover) (from Deguello, 1979)
Waitin’ for the Bus (from Tres Hombre, 1973)
Jesus Just Left Chicago (from Tres Hombre, 1973)
Gimme All Your Lovin'(from Eliminator, 1983)
Pearl Necklace (from El Loco, 1981)
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide (from Deguello, 1979)
I Gotsta Get Paid (from La Futura, 2012)
My Head’s in Mississippi (from Recycler, 1990)
Sixteen Tons (Merle Travis cover)
Just Got Paid (from Rio Grande Mud, 1972)
Sharp Dressed Man (from Eliminator, 1983)
Legs (from Eliminator, 1983)
La Grange (from Tres Hombre, 1973)
Tush (from Fandango, 1975)

Noise11.com

Follow Noise11 on Social Media

NEW: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE

Noise11 on Instagram

You’ll discover music news first following Noise11 on Twitter

Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook

Related Posts

Van Morrison photo by Ros O'Gorman
Sir George Morrison Covers The Classics For 45th Album ‘Accentuate The Positive’

Sir George Ivan Morrison (Van to his mates) will continue his tribute to the classic with a second volume of covers for 2023, ‘Accentuate The Positive’.

1 day ago
Roger Waters played Rod Laver Arena Melbourne on Saturday 10 February 2018. Roger Waters is performing his Us and Them Australian tour. Photo, Ros O'Gorman
Roger Waters Previews ‘Speak To Me/Breathe’ From The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux

Roger Waters has released another preview of his upcoming remake of the Pink Floyd classic ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ with the opening tracks ‘Speak To Me/Breathe’.

2 days ago
Neil Young Archives Roxy Tonights The Night live
Neil Young Performs Two Classic Albums At Historic Roxy Reunion

Neil Young has performed the first of two 50th anniversary concerts at the historic Roxy Nightclub in West Hollywood.

2 days ago
Plastic Bertrand’s Ca Plane Put Poi Singer Lou Deprijck Dead at 77

Belgian singer Francis ‘Lou’ Deprijck, better known as the singer of the Plastic Bertrand hit Ca Plane Pour Moi, has died at the age of 77.

3 days ago
Rose Tattoo play Palms Crown Casino on Friday 27 October 2017. Photo by Ros O'Gorman
Rose Tattoo Postpone All 2023 Shows Because Of Angry Anderson’s Health Issues

All upcoming Rose Tattoo shows for the 2023 Southern Stars Australian tour have been postponed until 2023 while singer Angry Anderson rests up with health issues.

3 days ago
The Victims
Dave Faulkner To Reform The Victims for Two Play Final Shows

Perth Punk band The Victims, Dave Faulkner’s band before Hoodoo Gurus, will reform for two final shows in December.

3 days ago
Roger Whittaker
British Folk Singer Roger Whittaker Dies At Age 87

Roger Whittaker, best known for the 1975 hit, ‘The Last Farewell’, has made his last farewell. Roger Whittaker has died at the age of 87.

5 days ago