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Billy Gibbons’ love of rock and roll stemmed from watching Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show. Soon after, he came across other artists such as Richard Little and Jimmy Reed. For Christmas 1963, Gibbons received a Gibson Melody Maker electric guitar and a Fender Champ amp. He formed his own band when he was fourteen and joined The Coachman in the late 60’s, who eventually changed their name to the Moving Sidewalks.

The group disbanded in 1969 and Gibbons went on to form ZZ Top with Dusty Hill and Frank Beard. They instantly became one of the most popular bands around. Along with Hill, they came up with a gimmick that is synonymous with the band today, long beards down to their chests.

While the beards may have been gimmicky, Gibbons’ guitar playing never was. He remains one of the most talented blues rock guitarists ever to come out of Texas alongside Stevie Ray Vaughn.  Even early in his career his playing was good enough that Jimi Hendrix was a fan, and began dropping his name to the media.  On ZZ Top’s early records he’s mostly remembered for his bluesy, muscular riffs on songs like “La Grange”, and “Tush”, but his soloing has been consistently outstanding, and deserves more recognition. Recently he was in the studio with the Queens of the Stone Age to add some lead to a few tracks and frontman Josh Homme admitted he was blown away by his playing, Gibbons deserves more chances like that to showcase what he can do. 

Gibbons also collects vintage guitars, his collection includes a 1959 Sunburst Les Paul Standard he calls Pearly Gates.

Date of Birth: March 4, 1950

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