Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top signs with Spirit Music Nashville

28 November 2023 - Press release

 

Legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist Billy F Gibbons has signed a worldwide publishing administration deal with Spirit Music Nashville.

“We are thrilled to welcome Billy F Gibbons to the Spirit Music family,” said Frank Rogers, Chief Creative Officer, Spirit Music Group/Chief Executive Officer, Spirit Music Nashville. “Billy is world class artist, and industry icon and one of the coolest humans on earth. He has undeniably shaped the sound of modern music and we are honored that he’s entrusted us as his publishing partner.”

“Billy F Gibbons is a music legend who has been part of rock ’n roll royalty for half a century,” said Mike Fiorentino, Director of A&R and Production, Spirit Music Nashville. “Being able to work with one of the world’s most prolific guitar heroes is truly an honor, and we are looking forward to building a long-lasting partnership. And a special shout out to Tim Montana for bringing BFG into our Spirit family!”

Billy F Gibbons added: “Spirit rising...! As is with Billy F Gibbons and the bonus of joining the Spirit music team taking large charge and ready to make loud noise!!!  We roll.  Spirit rising…"

Billy F Gibbons is best known as the centerpiece and one-third of legendary rock band ZZ Top.  The band came together in 1969 which remains part of the American musical landscape.  In 2004, Gibbons and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  In addition to his signature style, Billy is noted for recognition as one of the most inventive and dexterous guitarists of the rock genre. 

BFG is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest guitarists working in the blues-rock idiom. ZZ Top’s sound owes much to his uncanny knack of his ability to squeeze unique sounds out of the electric guitar that resonate with the blues, pop, r&b, country, gospel, western, hillbilly and West African influences that coalesced when rock ‘n roll was born.  As a vocalist, his down and dirty growl is unmistakable, sounding ominous and mirthful at the same time, which is evident in such hits as “La Grange,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” and “Cheap Sunglasses.”

Apart from his work with ZZ Top, Gibbons has recorded with a myriad of notable artists including B.B. King, Les Paul, Queens of the Stone Age, Shemekia Copeland, Kid Rock, Alice Cooper, Johnny Winter, and John Mayall, among others. 

In 2015, Concord Records released Billy’s debut solo album, the Afro-Cuban flavored Perfectamundo, which was followed by performances at the Havana Jazz Festival.  His follow up album The Big Bad Blues, produced by Gibbons and Joe Hardy, was released in 2018 and returns to the famed Gibbons blues roots. In 2019, the album was named Blues Rock Album of the Year at the 40th Blues Music Award ceremony in Memphis. 

In 2021, Gibbons released the rock hard, Hardware, an album produced along with Matt Sorum and Spirit’s Mike Fiorentino.  Its title, a tribute to the late Joe Hardy. The album remains critically and commercially successful.

Beyond being an iconic guitar slinger, Gibbons is an internationally-recognized collector of guitars and cars, a fact chronicled in his best-selling book, Rock + Roll Gearhead.  The guitar collection of BFG today numbers more than 800 instruments and includes the famous “Furry One,” as seen in the “Legs” video, and the most cherished guitar – “Pearly Gates,” a Gibson Les Paul valued above all others. Considered to be a “musician’s musician,” Gibbons is a wellspring of what he refers to as the “three T’s”: tone, taste and tenacity. The transcendent creativity in a broad variety of artistic and intellectual endeavors has stood BFG in good stead over the years underscoring his status as one music’s most highly regarded Renaissance men.