Frank Beard the longtime drummer of Houston Texas-based rock band ZZ Top has passed

Frank Beard, the longtime drummer of Houston, Texas-based rock band ZZ Top, has passed away. Beard, 77, was in hospice care and died peacefully, surrounded

A rock legend in his own right, Beard was instrumental in the band's rise to popularity in the 1970s, immediately after teaming up for the first time in 1969. Beard, along with his bandmates at ZZ Top, Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

“Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top. The band of which he was part for six decades is going to keep on keeping on as he had wished,” Gibbons said in the announcement of Beard's death. A cause of death was not announced.

In this article, we will look at the rock legend's family: his wife of 41 years, Debbie Meredith, their children, and his previous marriage to Catherine Alexander which lasted for just three years.

Frank Beard married Debbie Meredith just four months after his divorce from Catherine Alexander in 1981. According to multiple public records, Beard married Debbie Meredith on November 11, 1982. They remained married for nearly 44 years, until Beard's death Tuesday, August 18.

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Debbie Meredith has largely stayed away from public life. Her most notable documented public appearance came at the 2002 wedding of ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill and actor Charleen "Chuck" McCrory. They were photographed as the best man and the maid of honor, respectively, at the wedding.

Thet have three children: Nico Beard and Max Beard, twin sons. Some sources also document a daughter, but reports have never named her. Beard settled at the Top 40 Ranch in Richmond, Texas, where he focused on golf and local community activities.

Multiple biographies describe Catherine Alexander as the long-term girlfriend of Frank Beard, when they got married in 1978. They separated three years later in 1981 and did not have any children.

Beard's personal life became increasingly turbulent toward the end of his marriage to Catherine Alexander, particularly because of his heavy drug use, reports state. He later spoke openly about his addictions and the damage they caused to his relationships. He eventually entered rehabilitation, and ZZ Top took a break then.