ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard is taking a longer break from the band.
It was announced in March that Beard had “temporarily stepped away” from the band’s tour “to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term.” Now that break includes the group’s tour of Australia and New Zealand, which kicks off Saturday.
A post on the Live Nation Asia site shares that Beard is skipping the shows due to recommendations by “medical personnel.’”
“Beard’s continued physical therapy has shown to be very effective in dealing with the issue that caused him to leave the recent US leg of the tour,” reads the statement. “While cheered by the positive news, band and management believe that his total recovery must be priority #1.”
Finally, it notes, “Beard’s attending physicians have suggested more physical therapy over a longer period would potentially achieve better and longer lasting results, and this will now be his focus.”
In Beard’s place, the band’s longtime tech member, drummer John Douglas, will join ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis for the tour. Douglas has been covering for Beard on U.S. dates this year and previously filled in for him back in 2002 during a ZZ Top tour of France.
ZZ Top’s Elevation Tour of Australia and New Zealand, with George Thorogood & The Destroyers, begins Saturday in Bendigo, Australia. They return to the U.S. for new shows starting June 10 in Moorhead, Minnesota. A complete list of dates can be found at ZZTop.com.
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