(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Sun 19 April 2026 1:00, UK
Rock stars aren’t exactly a rare breed in this day and age; anybody with a guitar and an addictive personality can make it into the big leagues, and the pages of rock history are practically bursting with them.
Nevertheless, there are still a select few names that loom over the rock and roll map, unparalleled in their trailblazing quality or rock energy, and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons is in no doubt over who sits at the top of that pyramid.
Even outside of his work as the bearded hero behind the legendary Texas outfit, Gibbons boasts an extensive and illustrious history at the heart of rock and roll, rubbing shoulders with Jimi Hendrix and immersing himself in the psychedelic age of the late 1960s.
During those pre-ZZ Top days, before the guitarist was a part of the band that would come to define his very existence, he had a string of short-lived groups, the vast majority of which took their cues from the pioneering stylings of Little Richard.
Look across the rock and roll landscape, even today, and you will find that the impact of Little Richard’s energetic output has never really subsided. When he first emerged back in the 1950s, in a cloud of glitter and raw rock rebellion, his music served as a kind of watershed moment, ushering in a rock dynasty which has yet to be surplanted. Crucially, too, Richard inspired the next generation of musicians into action.
From Mick Jagger to Prince, it would be easier to list all the musicians that Richard didn’t inspire, rather than those who he did. Even still, few people were as dedicated to celebrating his output back in the 1960s as Gibbons, who blended the newfound psych revolution of the hippie age with his lasting love for that 1950s rock and roll sound.
Recalling those formative years during a chat with Shindig, Gibbons cited The 13th Floor Elevators as a major inspiration: “The Elevators, they hit pretty hard, I want to say ’66. That was the first single, ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’. They were out there!” Those garage rock revolutionaries changed the lineage of Gibbons’ output, but they weren’t the only influence he was immersing himself in.
“After The Coachmen, preceding The Moving Sidewalks, we added some horns,” he shared, giving an insight into his various pre-ZZ outfits. “We had three saxophone players because Little Richard was our hero.”
Gibbons explained, “His singing, I don’t think there’s been another rock and roll singer that can eclipse his singing.”
Attempting to evoke the blaring horns of those golden age Little Richards records didn’t afford Gibbons much in the way of rock and roll stardom, in the end, but even when he graduated to the heady heights of ZZ Top, the guitarist never lost his lasting appreciation for Little Richard.
After all, well over half a century on from his heyday, the material still stands up as some of the finest rock and roll records to have ever burst onto the airwaves. The fact that Gibbons has always kept them in his mind might go some way to explaining the longevity and rock appeal of his own band.
