Longtime drummer of ZZ Top, Frank Beard, won’t tour with the iconic rockers on their upcoming Australian run this month or next month, due to advice from “medical personnel.”

The Elevation Tour with special guests George Thorogood & The Destroyers commences this Saturday (26 April) for the Red Hot Summer Tour, beginning in Bendigo.

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While Beard won’t appear with the band, his replacement for this tour is no stranger to ZZ Top or their fans.

John Douglas has previously played with the band, most recently on the band’s just-concluded US leg of the Elevation run. He also covered for Beard on a ZZ Top tour in France in 2002.

Beard is continuing with physical therapy to address an issue that led him to leave the US leg of the Elevation tour. His attending physicians have recommended additional physical therapy for an extended period to achieve better and longer-lasting results.

Fans can be assured that Billy Gibbons, Elwood Francis, and John Douglas will put on great shows across the country.

The Red Hot Summer Tour starts on Saturday, 26 April, at the Bendigo Jockey Club in Victoria. From there, ZZ Top and George Thorogood & The Destroyers will head to Victoria’s Mornington Racecourse (Sunday, 27 April), NSW’s Roche Estate in the Hunter Valley (Saturday, 3 May), NSW’s Stuart Park in Wollongong on Sunday, 4 May, and Queensland’s Sandstone Point Hotel on Saturday, 10 May, and Sunday, 11 May.

For the Elevation tour, ZZ Top will perform in arenas and theatres. The tour begins at Adelaide’s AEC Arena on Tuesday, 29 April. It continues at Perth’s Langley Park on Thursday, 1 May, Melbourne’s Margaret Court Arena on Wednesday, 7 May, and Sydney’s ICC Theatre on Tuesday, 13 May, before travelling to New Zealand for two shows: Auckland’s Spark Arena on Saturday, 17 May, and Wellington’s TSB Arena on Sunday, 18 May.