ZZ Top co-founder Dusty Hill has died. The bassist – born Joseph Michael Hill – founded the band with drummer Frank Beard and guitarist Billy Gibbons in 1969. He was 72.

“We are saddened by the news today that our compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, Texas,” the surviving members of ZZ Top wrote in a statement. “We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature, and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.’ You will be missed greatly, amigo.”

ZZ Top was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and they released 15 studio albums through their extensive career, with timeless hits like “Legs,” “Gimmie All Your Lovin’,” “Tush,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and more.

The band set out on their 50th anniversary tour in 2019, writing, “It’s been five decades, and I think we’re starting to get pretty good at all this! …The beards, Frank’s excepted, are perhaps a bit longer, yet nothing else has changed. We’re keeping it that way.”

In fact, ZZ Top was set to perform the evening of Hill’s passing.

And while that show was canceled, the band is set to carry on, performing a July 30 gig in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

According to radio host Eddie Trunk, Gibbons revealed that before his passing, Hill had given the band his blessing to carry on. Said Gibbons, “As Dusty said upon his departure, ‘Let the show go on!’ And… with respect, we’ll do well to get beyond this and honor his wishes.”

This story is still developing…

This story is still developing…