Dusty Hill of ZZ Top is born in Dallas, Texas.
Frank Beard of ZZ Top is born in Frankston, Texas.
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is born in Houston, Texas.
A teenaged Billy Gibbons gets his first guitar for Christmas
The Moving Sidewalks, Billy Gibbons’ pre-ZZ Top band, opens for Jimi Hendrix, who will later remark on The Dick Cavett Show that Gibbons is one of his favorite guitarists.
ZZ Top release their first single, “Miller’s Farm,” on manager Bill Ham’s Scat label. It is reissued on London Records when they sign to the label but fails to chart.
ZZ Top perform their first live show at a Knights of Columbus Hall in Beaumont, Texas.
ZZ Top’s third album, Tres Hombres, enters the charts. Keyed by the FM favorite - and near AM hit - “La Grange,” Tres Hombres rises to #8 and becomes the band’s first gold album.
ZZ Top draws 80,000 fans to a Labor Day stadium concert that they dub “ZZ Top’s First Annual Texas Size Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance and Bar B.Q.”
ZZ Top’s half-live, half-studio album Fandango! enters the charts and yields the Texas trio’s first big hit, “Tush.”
ZZ Top breaks a nearly three-year hiatus by releasing Deguello, their first album for Warner Bros.
ZZ Top issues Eliminator, which peaks at #9, stays on the charts for over three years and eventually is certified ten times platinum.
ZZ Top’s biggest hit, “Legs” (from Eliminator) enters the pop charts, where it will peak at #8. “Sleeping Bag” (from Afterburner) will repeat the feat a year later.
At the first annual MTV Video Awards, ZZ Top wins in two categories
Afterburner, ZZ Top’s hotly anticipated followup to Eliminator, enters the album charts, where it will peak at #4.
ZZ Top kicks off a yearlong world tour in support of Recycler, their first album in five years.
ZZ Top Day is declared by Texas governor Ann Richards.
ZZ Top releases Antenna, their first album for RCA and seventh to go platinum.
ZZ Top releases XXX, a new album that coincides with the group’s 30th anniversary.
ZZ Top is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the nineteenth annual induction dinner. Keith Richards is their presenter.
