Las Vegas Honours ZZ Top Star With Inaugural ‘Billy Gibbons Day’
The city of Las Vegas, Nevada, has honoured ZZ Top star Billy Gibbons with a special ceremony. Las Vegas mayor Brian Knudsen proclaimed 16 December as Billy Gibbons Day and welcomed the legendary Texan to City Hall to mark the event.
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Addressing Gibbons, alongside the musician’s wife and a Las Vegas showgirl, Mayor Knudsen said: “We, the Mayor and members of Las Vegas City Council, do hereby take great pride in proclaiming December 16, 2024, as Billy Gibbons Day.”
The mayor’s official proclamation reads: “Billy Gibbons is an American rock musician, best known as the guitarist and primary vocalist for ‘That Little Ol Band From Texas’ – ZZ Top.
“Billy began his canter in Moving Sidewalks and was the opening act for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. [He] formed ZZ Top in late 1969 and released ZZ Top’s first album in early 1971, They are known for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances wearing sunglasses, hats and long beards.
“Billy has supported Las Vegas entertainment and the local community through his musical appearances for the past 55 years.”
Recalling that support slot his teenaged group the Moving Sidewalks performed for Hendrix in Texas in 1968, Gibbons told Classic Rock they boldly covered two Hendrix songs in their set.
He said: “To try and wrap your head around those compositions, it was something so new you didn’t quite know where to begin. We were fortunate to be able to interpret our versions of Foxy Lady and Purple Haze. They were Texas interpretations.
Gibbons added “On leaving the stage I was grabbed by the shoulders and there was Hendrix smiling. He said: ‘I got to meet you. You got a lot of nerve! I like it.'”
Elsewhere in ZZ Top news, the Texan legends also recently announced a spring 2025 US leg of their ongoing Elevation Tour. The new dates will see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act play 21 shows across the Southeast and Midwest.
The outing kicks off on 5 March in Dothan, Alabama, and runs through a 12 April show in Forrest City, Arkansas. Along the way, ZZ Top will hit such cities as Tampa, Nashville, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati, among others.
Buy ZZ Top merch at the Dig! store.