Frank Beard, the longtime drummer for the legendary rock group ZZ top, has stepped away from the current tour due to a “health issue,” according to reports. No further details were provided about what that issue might be. The band released a statement on social media.

Frank Beard, drummer of ZZ Top, had to take time off from touring to focus on his health. The band posted a statement that revealed John Douglas will be replacing Frank

While not the band's founding drummer - that title goes to Dan Mitchell, who played in Gibbons' previous band Moving Sidewalks and drummed on ZZ Top's first single "Salt Lick" - B

Fans of the legendary rock band Kansas and its frontman Ronnie Platt have reason to celebrate because the band is now poised to prepare for the road once more. And that is because Platt announced last week that he had successful surgery as he battles thyroid cancer.

Rumor’s spreadin’ ’round that ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard has left the band’s Elevation Tour to focus on an unspecified “health issue.” The Texas trio’s reps said Saturday that its co-founder “has temporarily stepped away from the current tour to attend a health issue requiring his focus in the near term” and is “looking forward to a speedy recovery.

ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard will be absent from the group's upcoming tour plans, citing a "health issue" as the reason for his absence. The Texas trio announced the news that Beard would be absent from the group's current Elevation tour due to the need to undergo an unspecified health procedure.