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The Latest Breaking News from ZZ Top

“Billy Gibbons pulls out this big-ass yellow 17-string bass and he’s like, ‘Okay, we’ll play it for a song, right?’” ZZ Top’s Elwood Francis on teching for Joe Perry, lying to Steve Vai – and the curse of playing that viral 17-string bass

The gear-trashing DIY enthusiast once had to choose between Vai and Joe Perry, before being fired and rehired by Guns N’ Roses –in a matter of days

Guitar World

“I found it late at night while surfing on one of those Chinese websites. I couldn't believe they were making something like that”: How ZZ Top acquired their 17-string bass

How ZZ Top got hold of their 17-string bass

MusicRadar

“I said to Billy, ‘We should order one of these, and I’ll play it. It’ll be hilarious.’ Then it went viral. I hate playing that bass. Now I’ve got to play it every night”: Elwood Francis on why he regrets his 17-string bass becoming a ZZ Top staple

Elwood Francis reveals the origins of his preposterous 17-string bass – and why he’s disappointed it went viral

Guitar World

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Best podcasts of the week: Esther Perel’s love letter to romance

In this week’s newsletter: The audio superstar is back with a ‘beach read’ of a podcast, The Arc of Love. Plus: five of the best podcasts about death

The Guardian - UK

“Dusty is their bass player. I'm not the bass player. I shouldn't be in the band”: Elwood Francis replaced Dusty Hill in ZZ Top – but he still feels uncomfortable about it

Francis originally served as ZZ Top's longtime guitar tech, but took on a completely new role at the behest of Hill's wishes after the bassist passed away

Guitar World

"We were starting to work in the girl theme. Cars, girls, fast and loud – those elements were starting to gel": How ZZ Top reinvented themselves with Degüello to pave the way for Eliminator

With some top tunes, a vintage clavinet and a battery of effects plastered all over it, Degüello successfully updated ZZ Top’s old-school blues and pointed the way towards future superstardom

Louder

“I got a call from David Bowie’s people to record Let’s Dance. I became a big advocate of Stevie Ray Vaughan in the studio. Nobody else could play like him”: Session bass great Carmine Rojas shares the stories behind his awe-inspiring resume

Despite suspecting he used the wrong bass on Tina Turner’s Foreign Affair, the veteran dedicates himself to being a supporting player and learning every day with the likes of Keith Richards, Joe Bonamassa and Billy Gibbons

Guitar World

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“To survive in this game, we had to get away from the 10-minute guitar solos”: the story of .38 Special, Blackfoot and the Southern Rock/AOR crossover

In the late 70s and early 80s, many of Southern Rock’s finest swapped twanging guitars for melodic rock magnificence

Louder

"Saucy enough to flavour a thousand barbecues": How a fabled Texan brothel inspired a ZZ Top classic

Celebrating a real-life Texan brothel, the visiting of which was in its day "a rite of passage", La Grange is still one of ZZ Top's best-loved songs and a must-play at shows

Louder

“The audience threw lighters, bottles, ice cubes and coins. We managed four songs before being booed off”: the rollercoaster story of Loverboy, Canada’s greatest AOR band

Turn Me Loose, Working For The Weekend, Loving Every Minute Of It – Loverboy raised the maple leaf flag high in the 1980s

Louder

ZZ Top announce first European tour in five years

"It's been a while since we've been able to check in with our European fans": ZZ Top's 2024 European shows will be their first on the continent with new bassist Elwood Francis

Louder

Watch Slash, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Myles Kennedy join Gov’t Mule onstage for an epic cover of Lynynrd Skynyrd classic Simple Man

Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam charity fundraiser featured some familiar faces and some killer collaborations this weekend

Louder

“You oughtta see if you could get somebody to send you money”: we wondered how ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons got his nickname ‘The Reverend’, so we asked Billy Gibbons to tell us

Spoiler alert: ‘The Reverend’ Billy F Gibbons is not an actual Reverend – it all comes from a money-making scam

Louder

“When they shot smoke, the crowd went wild!”: Dusty Hill’s Hot Rod car bass, custom built by Wayne Charvel for ZZ Top’s Eliminator tour, hides a few secrets beneath the hood – now it’s up for auction

Check out the automobile-inspired build that powered some of the band’s most iconic appearances in the early-’80s

Guitar World

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Louder

“I wouldn’t say we were trying to create another Close To The Edge or A Night At The Opera, but there are definitely some of those elements on the record." The making of the Von Hertzen Brothers' War Is Over

Kicking off their seventh studio album with the 12-minute title track, War Is Over found Finland's Von Hertzen Brothers on fine prog form

Guitar World

"Man, I like this thing!": Watch Billy Gibbons play the blues on a cardboard Strat

Even with the odd body material, the ZZ Top man looks – and sounds – right at home

Guitar World

Billy Gibbons gets his pedals on Amazon – and his favorite brand starts at $15

Larkin Poe’s Rebecca Lovell has revealed that, despite his boutique guitar and amp choices, the ZZ Top icon is obsessed with cheap mini pedals

Guitar World

Lynyrd Skynyrd will continue without Gary Rossington and honor tour dates with ZZ Top

“Gary was always the first to say how, ‘Skynyrd’s music is bigger than me or any one person,’” says Rossington’s widow

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Louder

Heart: Heart - Album Of The Week Club review

in the 1980s Heart's music was retooled as super-slick AOR, the Wilson sisters rocked Dynasty hairdos and frilly corsets, MTV loved them, and they sold millions

Cinemablend

AXS TV’s Vinyl Obsession Follows Members Of Styx, ZZ Top, N Sync And More Browsing Through Record Stores

There’s nothing quite like walking through a record store with money in your pocket and nowhere else to be. I could spend hours just wandering through the aisles, looking at album covers and deciding, re-evaluating, deciding, re-evaluating and deciding again what to buy. It’s a fantastic way to spend an…

The Guardian - UK

‘Jailhouse Rock made prison seem like fun’: Billy Gibbons’s honest playlist

The ZZ Top vocalist and guitarist was five when he went to an Elvis Presley concert, and has a passion for dice. But which tune is his karaoke favourite?

The Independent UK

New this week: Beyoncé, Shark Week, ESPYS and 'The Gray Man'

This week’s new entertainment releases include Beyoncé’s new album “Renaissance,” Stephen Curry hosting the ESPYS sports awards and the summer thrill ride known as Shark Week returns to Discovery Channel for its 34th year

The Independent UK

The Black Keys still raw, fast and loose on 'Dropout Boogie'

Two decades ago at their first show together, The Black Keys played so fast they ran out of songs before their set ended

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