Billy Gibbons Refused An Enormous Payday To Cut His Beard Off

Billy Gibbons Refused An Enormous Payday To Cut His Beard Off | I Love Classic Rock Videos

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Billy Gibbons, the lead singer/guitarist of ZZ Top, is arguably most known for his recognizable long beard. Until Dusty Hill’s death in 2021, Billy Gibbons and the ZZ Top bassist shared this enduring characteristic. Frank Beard, the band’s drummer, has alternately favored a mustache and a goatee, indicating some degree of flexibility. Billy, though, has maintained this appearance for more than 40 years. As it turned out, he refused to shave his beard despite being paid handsomely to do so.

The two came to the realization that they had both let their beards grow out on their vacations, according to the liner notes of Rancho Texicano: The Very Best Of ZZ Top. “I walk into the room, and I’m lookin’ at a guy I think I know,” Gibbons recalled. “My beard has grown to doormat proportions. And I realize that Dusty had done the same thing.”

Dusty and Billy had a hard time recognizing one other when they first reconnected after their vacations, during which their appearances had dramatically changed. They subsequently understood, nevertheless, that they should go for it and accept this as their appearance. After some time had passed, Gillette, a company that sells safe razors, decided to contact the two for an advertisement in 1984. They reasoned that forcing the two to shave their beards would be a wonderful idea since it would attract lots of attention. Gilette finally made a $1,000,000 offer to Billy and Dusty for this advertisement, but the two had no intention of shaving off their beards.

“No dice,” Gibbons told BraveWords. “Even adjusted for inflation, this isn’t going to fly. The prospect of seeing oneself in the mirror clean-shaven is too close to a Vincent Price film… a prospect not to be contemplated, no matter the compensation.”