William Frederick Gibbons was born on December 16, 1949. He is an American rock musician who plays guitar, writes most of the songs, and sings for the band ZZ Top. He started his music career in a band called Moving Sidewalks, which released an album named Flash in 1969 and performed four shows with the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Gibbons helped form ZZ Top in late 1969, and the band released their first album, ZZ Top's First Album, in early 1971. In recent years, he has also released music as a solo artist, beginning with his first solo album, Perfectamundo, in 2015.
Gibbons has performed with other musicians and appeared on television shows, including a recurring role as Angela's rock star father on the show Bones. In 2001, the magazine Rolling Stone listed him as the 32nd greatest guitarist of all time.
Early life
Gibbons was born to Frederick Royal ("Freddie") and Lorraine (née Duffy) Gibbons in the Tanglewood neighborhood of Houston, Texas. His father was an entertainer, conductor of an orchestra, and a pianist who played in concerts. He worked with his second cousin, Cedric Gibbons, who was an art director, at MGM Studios. When Gibbons was five years old, his mother took him and his sister to see Elvis Presley. At age seven, Gibbons's father took him to a recording session with B. B. King. He started as a percussionist and was sent by his father to New York City to study with Tito Puente. In 1962, Gibbons received his first electric guitar, a sunburst Gibson Melody Maker, along with a Fender Champ amplifier. He was influenced by guitarists such as Jimmy Reed.
While attending Warner Brothers' art school in Hollywood, California, Gibbons joined his first bands, including the Saints, Billy G & the Blueflames, and the Coachmen. By the age of 18, Gibbons formed a band that was inspired by his friend and fellow musician, Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators. He named the group the Moving Sidewalks, wrote the hit single "99th Floor," and became friends with Jimi Hendrix.
Musical career
Billy Gibbons founded the Texas psychedelic band the Moving Sidewalks. The group recorded several singles and one full-length album called Flash. Gibbons and the Moving Sidewalks gained fame by performing as an opening act for the Jimi Hendrix Experience during Hendrix's first American tour as a headliner. One notable song written by Gibbons is "99th Floor," named after the influence of the 13th Floor Elevators, a pioneering psychedelic band from Texas. During live performances, Gibbons has shared that Hendrix taught him how to play the guitar when he was about 17 years old in Dallas.
In late 1969, Gibbons formed ZZ Top. He chose bassist/vocalist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank "Rube" Beard, both members of the band American Blues, to join him. After developing their signature blues-rock style, ZZ Top released their first album, ZZ Top's First Album, on London Records in 1971.
On July 31, 2015, it was announced that Gibbons would launch a solo project named Billy Gibbons and the BFG's. The group includes musicians Mike Flanigin, GG Maartine (formerly Martine GuiGui), Joe Hardy, and Greg Morrow. Their debut album, Perfectamundo, was released on November 6, 2015.
Gibbons' second solo album, The Big Bad Blues, came out on September 21, 2018, through Concord Records. At the 40th Blues Music Awards in May 2019, the album was named "Blues Rock Album of the Year."
In a 2019 interview with Guitar World, Gibbons mentioned working on a new solo album titled Hardware, which honors Joe Hardy, their longtime engineer who recently passed away. The album was released in 2021.
Gibbons played guitar on the track "Dias Raros" from the Colombian band Diamante Eléctrico. He performed the first slide guitar solo on the song "Dead End Streets" from the Revolting Cocks album Cocked and Loaded, a side project of Al Jourgensen from Ministry.
Gibbons wrote, played guitar on, and sang on the song "Willin' for Satisfaction" from Vivian Campbell's 2005 solo album Two Sides of If. He collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age on the song "Burn the Witch" from their album Lullabies to Paralyze. ZZ Top's song "Precious and Grace" was recorded with vocals by Mark Lanegan, and it was later added to ZZ Top's live performances. Gibbons was invited to join the follow-up album Era Vulgaris but could not due to scheduling conflicts.
In 2007, Gibbons appeared in the documentary The 1959 Burst, alongside Les Paul guitar legends such as Slash, Rick Nielsen, and Eric Johnson. He performed with the Raconteurs at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. The event included Lou Reed and Jim Jarmusch, but MTV edited the performance for broadcast.
Gibbons joined B. B. King on the song "Tired of Your Jive" from the album B.B. King & Friends. He appeared on Nickelback's album All the Right Reasons on the tracks "Follow You Home," "Fight for All the Wrong Reasons," and "Rockstar." He performed with Hank Williams III on the song "Trashville" from the album Lovesick, Broke and Driftin'.
Gibbons collaborated with Les Paul on the track "Bad Case of Loving You" from Les Paul & Friends American Made, World Played. He also played guitar on "Put It Right Back" from John Mayall & Friends' album Along for the Ride. He was the first artist to perform at Cleveland's State Theater in November 2008 during a tribute to Les Paul.
Gibbons sang background vocals on Sammy Hagar's 2008 CD Cosmic Universal Fashion on the song "Switch on the Light." He played guitar on Brooks & Dunn's song "Honky Tonk Stomp." He performed on the opening track, "Broke Down on the Brazos," from Gov't Mule's 2009 album By a Thread.
Gibbons played guitar on "Run Rudolph Run" from the compilation We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year. He joined Jeff Beck onstage at the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert, performing a version of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady."
Gibbons appeared on Austin City Limits in 2007, performing with Roky Erickson. He played lead guitar on two songs from Everlast's 2008 album Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford: "Stone in My Hand" and "Anyone."
On January 22, 2010, Gibbons joined Ben Harper, Beck, and Conan O'Brien on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, performing a rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird." On February 19, 2011, he was a guest judge at the 5th Annual Misprint Beard and Moustache Contest in Austin, Texas.
Gibbons performed at Social Distortion's concert in 2012, playing "Drug Train" and "Black Magic." He performed "Baby Please Don't Go" at the Václav Havel bust dedication ceremony in the U.S. Capitol in 2014.
In 2020, Gibbons played guitar on Chapel Hart's single "Jesus & Alcohol" and appeared as a pastor in the music video. In November 2021, he performed alongside Dion DiMucci on "My Stomping Ground," which was included in DiMucci's album Stomping Ground.
Gibbons is featured on lead guitar throughout the album Friendlytown, released in August 2024 by Steve Cropper & the Midnight Hour.
Other projects
Billy Gibbons had a regular part on the Fox TV show Bones, appearing in seven episodes over nine years. He plays a version of himself as the father of Michaela Conlin’s character, Angela Pearly Gates Montenegro. On the show, he is never called by his name. Instead, he is always referred to as "Angela’s father." Conlin’s character has a middle name that matches Gibbons’ Les Paul guitar. Gibbons’ character is very protective of his daughter. He often threatens or scares Angela’s husband and coworker, Dr. Jack Hodgins, by warning him that if he harms Angela, he will face consequences. When Angela and Hodgins first broke up, Gibbons drugged and kidnapped Hodgins. During this time, he also gave Hodgins a tattoo of Angela’s face on his left shoulder. After Angela finds the tattoo, she tells Hodgins she wants it removed (he never does). When she learns it was her father’s doing, she angrily says, "I am so going to kick his Texan bad ass."
Gibbons has appeared in other episodes of Bones. In one, he asks Hodgins to help recover his car from some "biker hoods." In another, he argues with Hodgins over baby names. Gibbons suggests "Staccato Mamba," a name he heard in a song, while Angela and Hodgins prefer "Michael Vincent." The parents and grandfather compromise on "Michael Staccato." At the end of the episode, Hodgins discovers another tattoo on his right biceps: a drawing of his father-in-law with the word "Daddy" across Gibbons’ beard. Gibbons tells Hodgins that celebratory tequila and him do not mix. In a later episode, Gibbons asks to babysit his grandson, Michael. He points out that Angela slept soundly backstage while he played to sold-out crowds as a baby. After Angela and Hodgins initially refuse, they agree because Michael will not stop crying. Gibbons solves the problem by finding the music Michael likes, including blues and boogie rock, such as ZZ Top’s "Hi Fi Mama."
Gibbons voiced a wine industry leader in episode 60 of the animated musical comedy series Metalocalypse.
Gibbons, along with his ZZ Top bandmates Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, voiced a version of himself in the Fox animated show King of the Hill, set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas. In the show, Dusty Hill is said to be a cousin of the main character, Hank Hill.
Gibbons appeared as a dining room guest in the season 13 episode of Hell’s Kitchen.
Gibbons co-wrote the book Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead with author Tom Vickers, first published in 2005. The book has three sections: The Life, The Cars, and The Guitars. The first section is a biography of Gibbons, while the other sections describe his car and guitar collections. In 2020, Motorbooks published an expanded version of the book to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ZZ Top.
In 2011, Gibbons partnered with Texas-based Mojo Products, LLC, to launch a line of hot sauces, barbecue sauces, and other products under his brand, "BFG Brand." The sauces were sold as BFG No. 44 through his personal website.
In late 2012, Gibbons appeared in commercials for Fiesta Mart, a Texas supermarket chain. Some BFG Brand sauces were shown in these ads.
In 2018, Billy Gibbons collaborated with John Fogerty. During the planning of Fogerty and ZZ Top’s co-headlining Blues and Bayous Tour, Fogerty wrote a song with Gibbons called "The Holy Grail," which Gibbons performed with vocals and guitar. Gibbons told Billboard Magazine: "It’s not an overstatement to say that writing a song with John Fogerty is a genuine bonus. It’s fair to say that John and I are both excited about our collaboration, and we think this new one called 'The Holy Grail' holds true with some great storytelling and some solid guitarist movin’ the number right along. It begs a shout of, 'Turn it up!'" The single "The Holy Grail" was released on June 8, 2018.
Equipment
Gibbons mainly plays Gibson guitars. His first guitar was a sunburst 1962 Gibson Melody Maker. In 1968, Gibbons bought a sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard guitar from a farmer in Houston, Texas, for $250 (worth about $2,315 today). He named the guitar Pearly Gates, a name inspired by a dangerous-to-drive car called a "rolling-wreck" that he sold to buy the guitar. This guitar has been the standard for every ZZ Top album since the band formed in 1969.
Gibbons also plays Fender guitars. During his time in the Moving Sidewalks, he used a white 1963 Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Esquire. He has also used a rare "Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird" given to him by Bo Diddley. The use of this guitar, starting with the 2003 ZZ Top album Mescalero, led to a signature production model called the Gretsch Billy-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird. For Mescalero, Gibbons relied heavily on Ulrich Teuffel's futuristic Birdfish guitar, calling it second only to Pearly Gates. Gibbons said, "It really shines on Mescalero because of that dirty, raunchy tone. I defy any other instrument, besides these odd-ball things, to get that crazy." He recorded the Eliminator album using a Dean ML guitar.
For the music video of the 1983 single "Legs," Gibbons and Hill used matching spinning sheepskin fur guitars made by Dean Zelinsky of Dean Guitars. The guitars are attached to belt buckles with a rotary electrical contact and strap mount, allowing them to spin. Gibbons credited the spinning idea to Moving Sidewalks bassist Don Summers.
Gibbons worked with Thomas Nilsen of Cream T Pickups to create the BFG Banger humbucker pickup. At the January 2010 NAMM Show, Dunlop Manufacturing and Gibbons introduced a new line of guitar accessories called Rev. Willy's. These include picks, strings, and slides inspired by Gibbons' style.
Gibbons uses strings with an extra light gauge of .007-.009-.011-.020-.030-.038 on his guitars. A signature set of these strings, called "Rev. Willy's Mexican Lottery Brand," is manufactured and sold by Dunlop. The company also makes other gauges of these strings.
Originally, Gibbons used heavy gauge strings in ZZ Top's early years. He switched to light strings after playing a show with B. B. King. King asked to play Gibbons' guitar, which he did. After playing it, King noticed the heavy strings, handed the guitar back, and asked, "Why you working so hard?" Gibbons had thought the classic blues sound came from heavy gauge strings, but King advised him to use light gauge strings instead.
Gibbons has used various Marshall products, including the JCM 900 Dual Reverb, Bluesbreaker, JTM45, Major, and Lead 12. Recently, his live touring setup includes the JMP-1 Preamp combined with power amps like the Valvestate 120 or 9200 model. Gibbons has a large collection of vintage Fender amplifiers (his first amp was a Fender Champ) and collects Fender Dual Professionals. Other Fenders he has used include a Fender Bassman and a Fender Tweed Deluxe. Since around 2014, Gibbons has used Magnatone amplifiers.
Personal life
On December 14, 2005, Gibbons married his long-term girlfriend, Gilligan Stillwater (born Ellen J. Oetjen).
Gibbons is very interested in collecting and customizing cars. His collection includes a 1948 Cadillac Series 62 (called CadZZilla), a 1962 Chevrolet Impala (called "Slampala"), a 1950 Ford Business Coupe, and a 1958 Ford Thunderbird. One of his first custom cars, a 1933 Ford Coupe (called "Eliminator"), appeared in three music videos by ZZ Top and was on the cover of their 1983 album, also named Eliminator. In 2011, Gibbons wrote a book about his love for cars and guitars, titled Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead. In the November 2014 issue of Guitar World magazine, Gibbons and guitarist Jeff Beck talked about their shared interest in cars, guitars, and other topics.
For several years, Gibbons has worn a braided-cloth cap instead of his usual Stetson hat. During a visit to Vienna, he met the chief of the Bamileke people from Cameroon and exchanged the hat for the cap.
Benton Blount said Gibbons removed him from the Big Bad Blues tour after Blount posted a message supporting "Make America Great Again."