ZZ Top is the answer to a great trivia question: Name the band with the longest-running original line-up. ZZ Top has had the same three members for over 50 years: Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard. It is also ironically noted that Frank Beard is the only member of the band who doesn’t have a beard.

ZZ Top has six number-one singles on the Mainstream Rock Charts and has earned four gold, three platinum and two multiple-platinum album certifications, and one diamond album. The band won multiple Video Music Awards in the 1980s and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. 

I watched a documentary about ZZ Top on Netflix, and one story stood out to me. ZZ Top is from Houston, Texas, In the early days, they weren’t big enough to play big cities. One of the first gigs was in the small town of Alvin, Texas. They were hoping for a sell-out but figured they would be happy if it was half full. There was a stage with curtains, and the band was behind the curtains. When the curtains opened, there was one guy. He was looking around like, “I’m in the wrong place.” And he turned around starting to leave, and the band gets on the microphone and says, “Whoa wait a minute. Stick around and we’re gonna play the whole show for you.” He didn’t know what to do. He just stood out there, and the band played about an hour. 

They took a break and went out and motioned the guy over and bought him a Coke because “we were thankful that he stuck around.” Then the band played an encore. Dusty Hill noted cheekily that the encore is supposed to be when the audience demands to have you back. He said, “Well, we thought the kid deserves some more.” 

According to Billy Gibbons, that guy still comes around to this day. He won’t tell them his name. He just says, “Remember me? I’m the guy.” Billy said, “Of course we remember you.”

Gratitude is a wonderful thing. If there is even just one person out in the audience, I’m going to get on the stage and play.