During a recent appearance on the Mohr Stories podcast with host Jay Mohr, ZZ Top legend Billy Gibbons confirmed a story fans have heard for years: Gillette (the razor company) came calling with serious money, hoping to get the band’s signature beards on camera, without the beards.
“It’s true,” said Billy Gibbons (via Blabbermouth). “[Gillette] deny it. It was a million dollars per man. But we called Mr. Merlis [music industry veteran 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 said, ‘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.’ So we passed. We passed, and our fans loved it. Word got out.”
The offer dates back to 1984. Adjusted for inflation, that’s roughly $3.1 million in today’s money per person.
Back in 2012, Gibbons summed up his position the same way he does now. “No dice. Even adjusted for inflation, this isn’t going to fly. The prospect of seeing oneself in the mirror, clean-shaven, is too close to a Vincent Price film — a prospect not to be contemplated, no matter the compensation.”
He also joked elsewhere about why the beards stayed put: “We’re too ugly. We don’t even know what’s under here. Not at this point.”
During an interview with KLRU Public Television in Austin, Texas, Gibbons expanded on how ZZ-Top’s signature beards came to be: “We started ZZ Top in 1969. We carried on without a stop until the bicentennial year of ’76. And at that time, we were looking at an invitation to join the ranks of the Warner Brothers Group. And it was the decision by management to take a brief break after literally seven years of nonstop touring. Maybe a 90-day hiatus would give us a little breathing room, which turned into 120 days later. It was one year, and we all kind of scattered, keeping in touch only by telephone. Now it’s two years running, and all the machinations to join the ranks of Warner Brothers were still underway.”
“In the meantime, as I mentioned, the word ‘lazy’ came in. Now there’s one telltale photograph. Our first official release for Warner Brothers contained a photograph on the little sleeve inside the 12-inch long-playing album — actually, the only evidence of [ZZ Top drummer] Frank Beard with a beard is hiding inside that Degüello record. He quickly grabbed the razor and went to town. But Dusty and I — what started as a disguise turned into a trademark,” Gibbons added.
