ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons says both late Dusty Hill & Elwood Francis will be on next record

ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons is giving fans an update on the band’s next album and says the late Dusty Hill will be represented on the record.

Gibbons tells Classic Rock that the band is “currently reviewing the tracks that deserve completion” for the next record, noting that both Dusty, who passed away in 2021, and his replacement, Elwood Francis, are on it.

“What’s fascinating is that we have three or four tracks with them both, they’re trading off,” he says. “The only tell-tale difference is that Dusty, playing with his fingers, sounds a little warmer.“

Gibbons says they “hope” to have the album out sometime this year, but notes, “We’ve got lots of road work ahead,” referring to ZZ Top’s upcoming Sharped Dressed Simple Man Tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd. The trek kicks off July 21 in West Palm Beach, Florida. A complete list of dates can be found at zztop.com.

In the same article, Gibbons also reveals he has an unfinished song with the late Jeff Beck, inspired by Beck’s love of chocolate and the time he mistook a box of chocolate malt balls for chocolate meatballs.

“We had a big laugh, and I suggested we write a song called ‘Chocolate Meatballs,'” he explains. “We got a half of it done. You’ve reminded me that it needs to be finished.”