ZZ Top's Frank Beard to take leave due to 'health issue'

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard will be absent from the group's upcoming tour plans, citing a "health issue" as the reason for his absence.
The Texas trio announced the news that Beard would be absent from the group's current Elevation tour due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure.
"Shelter Music Group, ZZ Top's management, has announced the band's drummer, Mr Frank Beard, has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend to a health issue requiring his focus in the near term," a social media post from the band read.
"Beard, along with fellow ZZ Top members Billy F Gibbons and Elwood Francis, presently on the Elevation tour since 5 March, have engaged fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer, John Douglas, for the interim."

The post noted that Douglas has "maintained a close relationship with Beard and the bandmates," and had sat in before for Beard during a Paris performance in October 2002 when he underwent an emergency appendectomy.
"He is looking forward to a speedy recovery," the post concluded.
It's currently unknown when Beard will resume his place behind the kit.
Beard has been the drummer of ZZ Top since 1969, when he took over from co-founder Dan Mitchell. Alongside vocalist and guitarist Billy Gibbons, Mitchell and bassist Lanier Greig had founded the band that same year.
Following Grieg's replacement by Billy Ethridge, Dusty Hill assumed the role of bassist in 1970, with their lineup remaining unchanged for 51 years until Hill's death at 72 in 2021.