Frands
Senior Member
Dusty Hill (Real name:Joseph Michael Hill), the longtime bassist for rock band ZZ Top, died today in his sleep at home in Houston. He was 72.
His death was announced by bandmates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard.
“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX,” the two wrote on the band’s Instagram page. “We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.'You will be missed greatly, amigo.”
Hill had recently suffered a hip injury that prompted his departure from the band’s sprawling 2021-22 tour of North America that was to include a Las Vegas residency..
Long considered the rock band with the longest-tenured original lineup, ZZ Top was formed in 1969 in Houston, with Hill playing alongside guitarist Gibbons and drummer Beard. They went on to become one of rock’s best-loved trios — and bands. The group was featured in the 2019 documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band from Texas, which scored a Grammy nom for Best Music Film.
The boogie trio released ZZ Top’s First Album as they built a name playing Texas clubs, and the 1972 follow-up Rio Grande Mud was their first to hit the charts and expanded their popularity.
Their fortunes changed in 1973 with Tres Hombres, which spawned “La Grange,” an ode to that shack “out on the range.” The song was a minor pop hit, just missing the Billboard Top 40, but expanded the group’s fan base and drove the album into the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart. The track remains a staple on rock radio.
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