Beard will be replaced by "fellow Texan and longtime tech member, percussionist and drummer, John Douglas" during his absence.

While not the band's founding drummer - that title goes to Dan Mitchell, who played in Gibbons' previous band Moving Sidewalks and drummed on ZZ Top's first single "Salt Lick" - B

The band wrote on social media that the drummer needs "to attend to a health issue requiring his focus in the near term."