ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons says band will continue following the death of bassist Dusty Hill

ZZ Top in 2016; Brill/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Following Wednesday’s sad news of the death of longtime ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, the band’s frontman, Billy Gibbons, has revealed that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers plan to continue.

Yesterday, rock radio personality Eddie Trunk took to his Twitter feed to share a text message Gibbons sent him that reads, “As Dusty said upon his departure, ‘Let the show go on!’ and…with respect, we’ll do well to get beyond this and honor his wishes.”

The 71-year-old singer/guitarist added, “Dusty emphatically grabbed my arm and said, ‘Give Elwood the bottom end and take it to the Top.’ He meant it, amigo. He really did.”

The “Elwood” Billy mentions is Elwood Francis, ZZ Top’s longtime guitar tech, who’d been filling in for Hill on bass at recent concerts by the band.

Before Hill’s death, ZZ Top announced on their Facebook page that Dusty had to exit the band’s tour and return home to Texas “to address a hip issue,” and that Francis was stepping in “with his slide guitar, bass guitar, and harmonica playing in full swing.”

ZZ Top canceled their show on Wednesday, July 28, in Simpsonville, South Carolina, but the band is still slated to play its next scheduled gig this Friday, July 30 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

On Wednesday, ZZ Top announced that Hill had “passed away in his sleep at home in Houston.” He was 72. No cause of death has yet been publicly revealed.

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