Benztown Offers Audio Tribute to ZZ Top's Dusty Hill

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Benztown Audio Tribute to Dusty Hill

Benztown is offering an Audio Tribute to Dusty Hill, bassist for the legendary Southern rock band ZZ Top, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, who died at his home in Houston, TX, at age 72. Listen to the audio tribute here.

Born Joseph Michael Hill in Dallas, TX, Dusty Hill, his brother Rocky Hill, and future fellow ZZ Top member Frank Beard played in local Dallas bands the Warlocks, the Cellar Dwellers, and American Blues. From 1966 to 1968, American Blues played the Dallas-Fort Worth-Houston circuit. In 1969, Hill was a member of a fake version of the British band The Zombies with Beard.

In 1968, Rocky Hill left the band and Dusty and Beard relocated from the DFW area to Houston, joining guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons of Houston psychedelic-rockers Moving Sidewalks in the recently formed ZZ Top just after they released their first single in 1969. Over the next half-century, ZZ Top released 15 studio albums and sold 50 million albums worldwide. Dusty played bass and keyboards in the band and was secondary lead vocalist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004.

ZZ Top was initially a traditional, heavy Texas blues-rock band with classic rock radio hits including "La Grange," "Tush," and "Cheap Sunglasses." They enjoyed their most commercially successful period in the 1980s as a ubiquitous presence on MTV, and became known for Gibbons and Hill's signature long beards, sunglasses and furry guitars in their MTV videos. 1983's Eliminator album added synthesizers and featured three hit pop singles ("Gimme All Your Lovin'," "Legs," and "Sharp Dressed Man"), sold more than 10 million copies, and spent 183 weeks on the Billboard album chart.

In July, 2021, the band played their first performances without Hill in more than 50 years, explaining in an announcement that he had been forced to seek medical attention "to address a hip issue." The band's longtime guitar technician, Elwood Francis, filled in as bass player.

The Benztown Audio Tribute to Dusty Hill was written and voiced by Bill Royal and produced by Matt Anderson.