How Dusty Hill grounded himself after the ZZ Top world tour: “I just wanted to feel normal”
Although ZZ Top became one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1980s, synonymous with the MTV era thanks to their hard-rocking music, Santa-worthy beards, and fluffy guitars, their history stretches back long before this prosperous period. By the time they hit it big, they had already established themselves as a formidable force in rock. Had they chosen to retire before their MTV-fuelled explosion, they could have done so with a legacy already well-secured and been more than content with their success.
ZZ Top formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969, and it’s a testament to them that they were never a relic of the late countercultural period. Quickly after coming together, they developed their exciting signature sound due to the lustre of Billy Gibbons’ bluesy approach to the six-string, Dusty Hill’s swaggering bass work, and Frank Beard’s appropriately expressive drums. Just a year after forming, they signed to London Records and, in 1971, released their debut, ZZ Top’s First Album, a unique record amid the broad and often dull rock landscape of the day.
The band later found even greater success with albums like Tres Hombres and Fandango!, featuring hits such as ‘La Grange’ that became radio staples. By the mid-1970s, ZZ Top had solidified their reputation as one of North America’s most celebrated live acts, having spent their entire adult lives on the road as professional musicians. However, the relentless touring schedule and Frank Beard’s struggles with addiction took their toll. After the extensive Worldwide Texas Tour of 1976 and 1977, the group decided to take a much-needed hiatus. Their final album before this break was 1976’s Tejas, and the gap before its follow-up would be much longer than anyone in the band had anticipated.
During this down period, Hill sought a hearty shot of reality to reset his brain. In one of the most remarkable shifts of professions in music history, he spent three months working at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. After being on the road with ZZ Top alone for the best part of a decade, this stark transformation in the environment was perfect for Hill, with the nine-to-five pattern and being around ordinary people incredibly sobering.
Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock in 2019, he explained: “Of course, that break wasn’t supposed to be as long as it was. I needed to go if you want to call it that, get grounded. I had a friend that worked in the airport up in Dallas, and I just wanted to feel normal. I’ve been a singer since I was eight and I’ve been a musician since I was 13, and pretty much on the road since I was 14.”
Hill also revealed that one of his reasons for taking off on the road so young was that “Where I came from, everybody was in the same boat, and it was a small, leaky boat”. He knew he needed to get out of there, but when he eventually returned as a successful musician, he didn’t want people to think that he had become arrogant. This was another reason Hill took the job at the airport, to ground himself.
Despite the hit records and fast-selling tours, this was still an early stage in ZZ Top’s career. Dusty Hill hadn’t yet grown his iconic beard, so while he was famous, he hadn’t fully become the legend he would later be. This allowed him to swap his hat and shades for regular workwear, complete with a name tag reading ‘Joe’—his real name—and blend back into normal life. Even when a few astonished fans recognised him and asked if it was really him, Hill denied it, quipping, “What the hell would I be doing working at an airport?”
The hiatus continued for much longer than anyone expected, but as all three of the members fully believed in ZZ Top, when they finally reconvened after two years to make November 1979’s Deguello, spirits were high. The 1980s were nigh, and they were to bring untold success; Eliminator and ‘Gimme All Your Lovin” were just three short years away.
