Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top Shares That Gillette Tried to Pay Him and Dusty Hill $1 Million Each to Shave Their Famous Beards

Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons in October 1990.
Credit :

Paul Natkin/Getty

Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top recently divulged an intriguing offer during an appearance on Jay Mohr’s podcast, Mohr Stories. He revealed that shaving brand Gillette had proposed $1 million each to him and the late Dusty Hill to shave their renowned beards for a television commercial.

According to Gibbons, the offer was genuine, although he noted that Gillette has since disputed the claim. "It was a million dollars per man," he maintained.

Gibbons elaborated on the discussions surrounding the offer, recalling his conversation with music executive Bob Merlis. "I said, ‘Bob, we got this offer.’ ‘What?’ I said, ‘We’ve been offered a million dollars each to shave on TV,’" he recounted. Gibbons, who co-founded ZZ Top alongside Hill and Frank Beard—the latter the band’s only beardless member—said Merlis reacted positively but cautioned them about the implications of such a move.

Gibbons shared, “Well, he said, ‘The money’s good.’ He said, ‘You might as well consider doing it, but I’m not so sure you guys — any of you guys — know what’s under there.’" Ultimately, the band declined the lucrative offer, and Gibbons added, "So we passed. We passed, and our fans loved it. Word got out."

As the band prepares for an expansive North American tour, which kicks off on March 21 in Abilene, Texas, it will wrap up on May 23 in Huntington, West Virginia. They will be performing alongside bassist Elwood Francis, who joined the band following Hill’s passing in 2021.

ZZ Top’s most recent music album, RAW, was released in 2022. The collection features classic tracks recorded by the original lineup in 2019, coinciding with their Netflix documentary, That Little Ol’ Band From Texas.

In a poignant statement regarding Hill, Gibbons and Beard remarked, “‘The Dust’ may have left the building but he’s still very much with us.”