Billy Gibbons Reveals Dusty Hill’s Health ‘Struggles’

He Said It’s “No Secret” That Hill Had Problems

Following the sudden death of his bandmate of fifty years, ZZ Top frontman and guitarist Billy Gibbons sat down for an interview with Variety. He discussed bassist Dusty Hill’s health problems over the years.

“He’s been kind of tiptoeing through keeping himself ship-shape, best he could,” Gibbons said. “But I think that this was a real challenge. And by throwing in the towel, it might’ve caught up with him. Who knows? I’m just glad he’s in a good spot.”

For their trek this year, Hill only played the first two dates.

“And then he requested dismissing himself,” Gibbons explained. “He said, “Yeah, let me go check this out.” And of course I said, “Hey, man, health is number one. Go do your thing.””

“And I could tell through those first two valiant attempts, if he’s not giving it 110%,” he continued, “he was the first one to kind of say, “Gee whiz. Let’s go take care of this.””

Gibbons added that it was “no secret” that Hill had several health struggles including a broken shoulder, broken hip, and ulcers. After Hill was sidelined for their North American tour, he was replaced by longtime guitar Elwood Francis. And although ZZ Top postponed their July 28 gig, they recently played their first concert after Hill’s death.