1. Joe Michael "Dusty" Hill was an American musician who was the bassist of the rock band ZZ Top for more than 50 years.
25 Facts About Dusty Hill
1. 2.
Dusty Hill sang backing and lead vocals and played keyboards.
3.
Dusty Hill was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004.
4.
Dusty Hill died in 2021 after a period of declining health.
5.
Joe Michael Dusty Hill was born in Dallas, Texas, on May 19,1949.
6.
Dusty Hill attended Woodrow Wilson High School, where he played the cello.
7.
Dusty Hill began singing for money with his older brother Rocky at the age of 8.
8.
Dusty Hill took up bass at the age of 13, when Rocky formed a band with a drummer and asked Dusty Hill to play bass for them.
9.
In 1969, Dusty Hill was a member of a fake version of the British band the Zombies with Beard.
10.
Dusty Hill spent the period working at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, saying he wanted to "feel normal" and "ground himself" after years spent performing.
11.
In 1979, when ZZ Top returned with the album Deguello, Gibbons and Dusty Hill revealed their new image of matching massive beards and sunglasses.
12.
Hill's on-screen appearances include Back to the Future Part III, Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, the July 20,2009 episode of WWE Raw, and Deadwood, and as himself in the eleventh-season episode of King of the Hill, "Hank Gets Dusted", in which Hank Hill is said to be Dusty's cousin.
13.
Dusty Hill made an appearance on The Drew Carey Show as himself, auditioning for a spot in Drew's band, but was rejected because of his attachment to his beard, which he referred to as a "Texas Goatee".
14.
In 2000, Dusty Hill was diagnosed with hepatitis C and ZZ Top canceled their European tour.
15.
Dusty Hill was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ZZ Top in 2004.
16.
In 2014, Dusty Hill fell on his tour bus and injured his hip, requiring surgery.
17.
On July 23,2021, Dusty Hill left a tour due to problems with his hip.
18.
Gibbons later confirmed that Dusty Hill had recorded bass and vocals for ZZ Top's upcoming sixteenth album before his death.
19.
Dusty Hill said he believed in God, but that he did not know "what or who God actually is".
20.
On December 16,1984, Dusty Hill accidentally shot himself in the abdomen when his derringer fell from his boot and discharged.
21.
Dusty Hill drove himself to a hospital before going into shock.
22.
Dusty Hill married his longtime girlfriend, actress Charleen McCrory, in 2002.
23.
On July 28,2021, Dusty Hill died at his home in Houston, Texas, at the age of 72.
24.
Dusty Hill was buried in a private service on August 7,2021, at Forest Park The Woodlands Cemetery in The Woodlands, Texas.
25.
Dusty Hill cited the Cream bassist Jack Bruce and the jazz bassists Stanley Clarke and Charles Mingus as early influences.