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Upcoming ZZ Top dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Close beats centered for ZZ Top
Buy the closest reserved seats you can, even off to one side. ZZ Top's show is about watching Billy Gibbons play guitar, and the band leans on its look and its players more than on screens or stage effects. In an amphitheater, the first sections under the roof are the best tickets on the tour; indoors, aim for the main floor (the orchestra) or the opening rows of the first balcony.
- Best: front reserved sections of the pavilion.
- Fair compromise: rear pavilion, center rather than the far ends.
- Budget: the lawn, with a distant view.
- Theater caution: extreme orchestra sides near the stage and seats deep under a balcony overhang.
Pavilion, lawn and theater seating, section by section
Recent tours have favored amphitheaters (outdoor venues with a covered reserved pavilion and a lawn behind it) and theaters. Find your venue type on the listing, then match it below.
Front of the pavilion
Close enough to see the guitar work and protected from rain by the roof.
Rear of the pavilion
Still covered and still reserved. Stay toward the center, because the angle to the stage gets steep at the far ends of each row.
Lawn
Unassigned grass up the slope from the pavilion. Bring a blanket, expect a lower price and a looser mood, and accept two costs: the players look tiny from up there, and no roof covers you in a storm.
Theaters
The orchestra and the front of the first balcony both work well. Avoid the outermost orchestra seats in the first rows, which look across the stage edge-on, and the last rows tucked beneath a low balcony, where the sound feels muffled and distant.
Who is on stage now
The classic trio of Gibbons, Dusty Hill on bass and Frank Beard on drums held together for roughly fifty years. That ended in 2021: Hill died that July 28, aged 72, and Elwood Francis, who had tuned and tended the band's guitars for years, stepped into the bass and vocal role, following Hill's own request.
Illness kept Beard off the road beginning in March 2025, with drum tech John Douglas behind the kit in his place. On August 17, 2026, the band announced Beard's death at 77; Gibbons said ZZ Top would go on touring, honoring Beard's wishes. If you buy a ticket now, you are seeing Gibbons and Francis front the band, not the original three.
Texas boogie and MTV-era hits
Gibbons has led the band since it formed in Houston in 1969. Seventies albums such as Tres Hombres (1973) built a reputation on constant roadwork across the South and beyond. Eliminator (1983) made the band a household name and is still its lone diamond-certified record from the RIAA, past the 10 million mark; Afterburner (1985) reached the Billboard top five. Total sales are estimated at 50 million records, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the band in 2004.
A set today is compact and guitar-driven: the boogie of Tres Hombres alongside the Eliminator and Afterburner hits, with Gibbons' tone at the center. Recent years have brought many double bills, which trim each band's time on stage; the listing shows the running order and which act headlines.
Tours from Worldwide Texas to The Big One
These runs are documented in this page's sources; current dates are in the live event list.
- 1976 to 1977, Worldwide Texas Tour: a long 1970s headline run.
- 1986, Afterburner tour: reported as that year's highest-attended and highest-grossing tour.
- From April 20, 2019, Las Vegas residency: at The Venetian, in the band's 50th-anniversary year.
- 2023 and 2024, Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour: shared top billing with Lynyrd Skynyrd from July 21 to September 17, 2023, then returned for more dates between March and September 2024.
- 2024 and 2025, Elevation tour: the band's own headline run, March to November in both years.
- 2026, The Big One Tour: after a run of canceled shows, it restarted on August 22, 2026, booking autumn stops at American sheds and theaters before heading to Mexico and South America. Separately, a joint bill with Dwight Yoakam, The Dos Amigos Tour, was announced in November 2025.
Steady touring and how ZZ Top seats sell
Because the band tours almost every year, demand tends to be steady rather than frantic.
- The artist presale leads. For the 2026 shows, an artist presale opened two days ahead of the public on-sale.
- Front sections sell first. Lawn tickets often remain close to show day.
- Texas and the South run hottest. Home-state and Southern dates draw hardest.
- Lineup news drives interest. Each loss, Hill in 2021 and Beard in 2026, sent fresh attention to the tour, and many longtime fans now treat any chance to see Gibbons as one not to postpone.
Secondary-market prices may run over or under face value and tend to change as show day approaches. Each Reserved Seat order carries a 100% guarantee. Band announcements are posted on zztop.com.
Frequently asked questions
Is a side seat close to the stage better than a center seat farther back?
For ZZ Top, usually yes. The show is about watching Billy Gibbons play, so a front-section seat at a slight angle tends to beat a distant seat square to the stage.
Who plays in ZZ Top today?
Billy Gibbons fronts the band with Elwood Francis on bass and vocals; Francis replaced the late Dusty Hill in 2021. Frank Beard's death was announced in August 2026, and Gibbons has said touring will continue.
Are ZZ Top lawn tickets worth buying?
They cost the least and feel the most laid-back. The trade-offs are a far-off view of the players and no cover from rain.
Is ZZ Top touring in 2026?
Yes. According to zztop.com, The Big One Tour restarted on August 22, 2026, with autumn American dates followed by Mexico and South America.
What is ZZ Top's best-selling album?
Eliminator, from 1983. It is the only ZZ Top record the RIAA has certified diamond, at more than 10 million units.