ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard is reportedly facing health issues and will no longer be joining the band on tour.
Beard’s health issues contributed to the legendary rock band canceling its tour opener at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Aug. 5, TMZ and Rolling Stone reported, citing unnamed sources. Rolling Stone confirmed with a band spokesperson that Beard, 77, would not continue on tour with the band. Michael Monahan, a drummer who has previously filled in for Beard, will join frontman Billy Gibbons and bassist Elwood Francis on stage.
USA TODAY has reached out to ZZ Top’s rep for comment.
Gibbons previously attributed the Los Angeles concert cancellation to “insurmountable obstacles.”
“Friends, fans and followers of ZZ Top are the best in the business and the band is counting on everyone to bear with us for this brief interruption,” he added in a social media statement.
Beard – the second-longest-serving band member, behind Gibbons and following bassist Dusty Hill’s death in 2021 – has previously stepped away due to health problems. In 2025, during the band’s Elevation Tour, Beard “temporarily stepped away” for an unidentified health procedure, with drummer John Douglas filling in at the time. The band noted that Douglas had also filled in when Beard underwent an emergency appendectomy back in 2002.
ZZ Top is on its The Big One Tour, which included an initial 34-date run across the United States in the spring, a 21-date European leg in June and July, and three dozen more U.S. dates through Oct. 9. The band is also set for eight dates in Mexico and South America in November.