ZZ Top's Billy F Gibbons announces summer UK and Europe tour dates

Billy Gibbons — (Image credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

ZZ Top guitarist Billy F Gibbons is coming to the UK and Europe this coming summer for a run of festival appearances and headline shows.

The gigs will see the legendary guitarist fronting a 'power trio' featuring guitarist Austin Hanks and former Guns N' Roses/The Cult/Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum. The group will visit 12 countries on their 20 shows, launching the trek on June 10 at the Sweden Rock Festival.

The maestro will call at:

Jun 10: Sweden Rock Festival, Sölvesborg, SWE
Jun 12: Tampere, Finland @ Tampere Hall, FIN
Jun 13: Helsinki House of Culture, FIN
Jun 15: Oslo Sentrum Scene, NOR
Jun 17: Copenhell Festival, Copenhagen, DEN
Jun 19: Hamburg Grosse Freiheit, GER
Jun 20: Frankfurt Batschkapp, GER
Jun 21: Nurenburg Lowensaal, GER
Jun 23: Leipzig Parkbuhne, GER
Jun 24: Cologne E-Werk, GER
Jun 25: Winterbach Salier Halle, GER
Jun 26: Praha O2 Universium, CZE
Jun 28: Vienna Gasometer, AUS
Jun 29: Zurich Volkshaus, SWI

Jul 02: London O2 Shepard's Bush Empire, UK
Jul 03: Birmingham O2 Institute, UK
Jul 05: Festival Pause Guitare, Albi, FRA
Jul 06: Paris Olympia, FRA
Jul 09: Bospop Festival, Weert, HOL
Jul 11: Bournemouth, O2 Academy, UK

Gibbons is one of a long list of rock legends guesting on the forthcoming album from Ian Hunter.

The star-studded Defiance Part 1 album will features appearances from Ringo Starr, Guns N' Roses duo Slash and Duff McKagan, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, film star/Hollywood Vampires guitarist Johnny Depp, Stone Temple Pilots trio Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz, Aerosmith's Brad Whitford, and the late Jeff Beck and Taylor Hawkins among others.

Gibbons appears on a song titled Kiss N’Make Up alongside Hawkins and actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.