ZZ Top (pronounced /ˈziː ˈziː ˈtop/) is an American blues rock trio, formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas . Its members are Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar), Joseph Dusty Hill (vocals, bass, and keyboards), and Frank Beard (drums and percussion) . ZZ Top is ranked number 44 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock ." The trio is one of the longest running rock bands to retain the same lineup, and until September 2006 had the same manager, Bill Ham . ZZ Top was inducted by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the annual ceremony on March 15, 2004 . Cub Koda wrote, "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers; Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the hard rock idiom ... while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support." ZZ Top almost always appear in public wearing sunglasses (a practice that predates, by a decade, their 1979 song "Cheap Sunglasses"). Gibbons and Hill wear similar black clothing (usually biker leathers) and black cowboy hats or baseball caps. Gibbons may wear black biker boots and neck chains with beer can openers. Although Gibbons and Hill wear chest-length beards, drummer Beard sports only a trimmed mustache. The band's name is often said to be a combination of two popular brands of rolling paper, Zig-Zag and Top. It has also been claimed as a tribute to blues legend Z. Z. Hill. However, Gibbons wrote in his autobiography, Rock + Roll Gearhead, that it actually came from blues guitar master B. B. King. The band had planned to call themselves Z.Z. King, but felt it was too similar. Since B.B. King was at the "top", they settled on ZZ Top. .