An American blues rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. The group members are Billy Gibbons (guitar, lead vocals), Dusty Hill (bass, lead vocals) and Frank Beard (drums, percussion). They hold the distinction of being among the few rock bands still composed of its original members after more than 35 years. They reached the peak of their commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, scoring many hit songs during that era, but they remain together today and are still touring and releasing albums. ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2004.

They played their first show in February 1970 and toured almost continually for several years. Their first two albums were recorded in Tyler, Texas. In 1973, they started recording in Memphis for their third album, Tres Hombres (1973), released on London Records, which gained wide acclaim.

The band continued touring, recording, and releasing albums until 1977, when they took an extended break. Their long-time manager/producer/image maker Bill Ham used this time to negotiate a deal that allowed the band to keep control of their previous recordings, which would be distributed by their new label, Warner.

They reunited two and a half years later in order to start recording under the Warner contract. Unbeknown to Beard, Hill and Gibbons had both grown their now-famous beards.

They reached new heights of popularity with the 1983 album Eliminator, boosted to prominence by memorable music videos, each of which featured a small bright red 1933 Ford Coupe 3 window hotrod called The Eliminator and a trio of mysterious, beautiful women who travel around helping various people. The album also featured a distinctive synthesiser-laced sound - a rarity in the blues rock genre - which added a modern, electronic edge to the music, and helped the album become successful. Eliminator remains their most successful album to date.

Their next album, Afterburner, mostly featured the same blend of synthesisers, blues rock and the use of sequencers. But on subsequent albums, less and less synth- and sequencer-influenced music is heard. An occasional song with those elements and instruments is included on recent albums as a nod to their past.

Recycler was released in 1990, and proved to be the band's last album under their contract with Warner. It was also the last of the albums often considered a distinct trilogy in the ZZ Top catalogue. It marked a move back towards a more guitar-driven blues sound which continued in later albums, losing some of the synthesiser sounds and pop bounce of the previous two albums. This move did not entirely suit the fanbase that Eliminator and Afterburner had built up, and while Recycler did achieve platinum status, it never matched the multi-platinum sales of those albums.

In 1992, ZZ Top signed a 5-album deal with RCA Records. Sales were good, but not up to earlier standards. Many fans feel that the recordings of this era are as artistically strong as the earlier London and Warner recordings, but have expressed disappointment with RCA's promotion of these releases.

RCA impresario Clive Davis wanted to do a collaboration record (in the mode of Carlos Santana's successful Supernatural) for their 2003 release Mescalero. According to an interview at that time, singers Pink, Dave Matthews and Wilco were among the artists slated for the project, but the band members declined this offer, and Davis and RCA subsequently shuffled the band to second-tier status.

As of 2006, it was reported that ZZ Top were recording their 15th studio album. However this album failed to appear, and in September 2006 the band ended their contract with RCA and left their manager Bill Ham.

ZZ Top's song lyrics often feature sexual innuendo and humour. Gibbons and Hill are also famous for their custom guitars, many of which were co-designed by Gibbons with master luthier John Bolin of Bolin Guitars. Hill requests that his basses have a similar neck profile to the 1950s Fender Precision Bass he used extensively in the early days of the band.

Nearly as well-known as their music is the group's appearance: Gibbons and Hill are always pictured wearing sunglasses (a nod to their 1979 song Cheap Sunglasses), similar if not matching clothing and their trademark chest-length beards. Ironically, Beard sports a mustache, but rarely a beard.

The origin of the band's name was not officially known for many years, with various theories. The real story as told by Gibbons and as found in his book Rock + Roll Gearhead is the name of blues legend B.B. King: they wanted to call themselves ZZ King but it sounded too similar. Figuring 'king' was at the 'top' they settled on 'ZZ Top'.