Dusty Hill

Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill (May 19, 1949 – July 28, 2021) was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years. He also sang backing and lead vocals and played keyboards.

Hill was born in Dallas, Texas. As a child, he began performing music with his brother, Rocky Hill. In 1968, he and the drummer Frank Beard joined the guitarist Billy Gibbons in ZZ Top; they went on to release albums including the bestselling Eliminator (1983). Hill favored simple compositions and a "big", distorted sound. Critics described his basslines as a critical part of ZZ Top's sound, complementing Gibbons' guitar showmanship.

Hill was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004. Hill died in 2021 after a period of declining health. In line with his wishes, he was succeeded by the band's longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis.

Joe Michael Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, on May 19, 1949. He and his older brother Rocky, also a musician, were raised in the Lakewood neighborhood of East Dallas. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School, where he played the cello. Like his future bandmates, Hill grew up listening to blues music, which he said was uncommon in white families; he recalled shocking the parents of his childhood friends when he brought records by Muddy Waters or Son House to their houses.

Hill began singing for money with his older brother Rocky at the age of 8. Dusty took up bass at the age of 13 when Rocky, a guitarist, formed a band with a drummer and insisted that Dusty learn to play bass so he could join them. He received his first bass soon after and immediately began playing shows. Unlike many bassists, he did not learn to play guitar first. He said, "I kind of learned how to play on stage and whatnot, and embarrassment is a great motivator. If you don't play well, standing up there with lights on, it really stands out, so it behooves you to get your shit up pretty quick." He did not enjoy school, and achieved poor grades; according to Hill, "Part of the problem was that by the time I was 13 I was already playing in local bars, so school kinda got in the way of that and I resented it."

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.