ZZ Top Makes Exciting Announcement Audio Ink Radio

ZZ Top Makes Exciting Announcement

2025-04-15

The sharp dressed men of ZZ Top are back with a major announcement for 2025, and it should please classic rock fans. – Author: Charles Ken, photo via Ross Halfin

The sharp dressed men of ZZ Top are back with a major announcement for 2025. While the band lost longtime bass player Dusty Hill in 2021 at the age of 72, they’re still forging ahead in his memory, so ZZ Top continues to make the news.

ZZ Top consisted of vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and Hill up until Hill’s passing, and now, Elwood Francis is holding down bass duties.

ZZ Top to Embark on Major Tour

The surviving members of ZZ Top have announced that they will hitting the road in 2025 on an extended run of dates. The band now has two North American legs of their ongoing Elevation Tour scheduled for this summer after packing their roster with a selection of new shows.

ZZ Top will begin the first leg of their tour on June 1 in Victoria, British Columbia, performing mainly in Canada and the northern U.S. through a June 27 date in Moncton, New Brunswick. The second leg of their tour will set off August 1 at the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, and close out in the group’s home state of Texas on September 3 in Midland, Texas. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 18, at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster, and various pre-sales are also going on.

ZZ Top recently wrapped up their spring U.S. tour, but Beard had to leave the trek early due to an undisclosed health issue. Drummer John Douglas filled in for Beard, and he’s expected to perform with the band at their upcoming gigs.

As for support, the summer gigs will offer opening sets from Night Ranger, Payton Smith and Black Stone Cherry on select dates. Ahead of the new U.S. tour dates, ZZ Top is also scheduled to head to Australia and New Zealand in late April and May to perform. For the full roster of upcoming ZZ Top shows, visit the band’s official website.

ZZ Top’s Latest Studio Album is 2021’s ‘La Futura’

ZZ Top’s latest studio album goes all the way back to 2012, “La Futura,” although they did release a live set, “Raw (‘That Little Ol’ Band from Texas’ Original Soundtrack),” in 2022.

Of “La Futura,” Rolling Stone said in a review at the time, “On their first album in nine years, the trio (along with producer Rick Rubin) place their bets on a sort of masterly skronk: sharp tunes (‘Chartreuse,’ ‘Consumption’) done with deceptively high-tech guitar distortions and rhythmic crunches. The results – from a crackling swampification of ‘I Gotsta Get Paid,’ a 1990s hip-hop track by Houston’s DJ DMD with Lil’ Keke and Fat Pat, to the soaring choruses of ‘Flyin’ High’ – prove these guys are still bad, speeding along and with warmth, humor, mystery and funk.”

The Guardian added, “In fact, their 15th album would sound amazing even if the songs weren’t up to scratch – Gibbons and co-producer Rick Rubin have done a remarkable job in making the band sound both timely and timeless, and fiercer than at any time in their career.”

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.

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