ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons will be the guest on the upcoming fourth season finale episode of the public television interview series Speakeasy, premiering this week on select stations.
The episode features Gibbons chatting about highlights from his legendary band’s long career, his brushes with other famous musicians, and his recent solo album, The Big Bad Blues.
In one segment, the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer shares some of his favorite ZZ Top guitar riffs, including “La Grange,” “Tush,” and “Just Got Paid.”
Billy also recalls the first time he met Jimi Hendrix. “I remember playing ‘Foxy Lady’ and ‘Purple Haze,'” Gibbons remembers. “Looking over into the shadows, there was Hendrix with his arms folded, like, ‘I can’t believe this guy.’ I came off stage and he grabbed me and he said, ‘I want to meet you. I like you. You’ve got a lot of nerve.'”
Gibbons also shares that when he was a child, he accompanied his father on a business trip to a recording studio where B.B. King was doing a session, an encounter Gibbons says helped him decide to become a musician.
