ZZ Top has confirmed it will continue touring following the death of longtime drummer Frank Beard, saying the band would carry on as he had wished. Beard died in hospice care at his Texas ranch aged 77, prompting the cancellation of two shows, but the group, now made up of Billy Gibbons and Elwood Francis, announced via Instagram that the tour would resume this weekend.

The band will restart with two dates at Austin City Limits, a venue Gibbons noted was one of Beard's favourites and effectively a second home for him. The Big One! Tour continues through US cities including Syracuse, Lancaster and Nashville into October, before dates in Mexico in November and a South American leg concluding in Buenos Aires on 24 November. Beard, who joined ZZ Top in 1969 and played with the band for six decades, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 alongside Gibbons, Francis and the late Dusty Hill. His death came just over a week after the band cancelled a Hollywood Bowl show citing "unforeseen personnel matters."