Hill co-founded the rock band with Frank Beard and Billy Gibbons in 1969.
Dusty Hill, the longtime bassist for the rock bandZZ Top, has died at 72.
Hill was born in Dallas, and learned bass as a teenager after his brother asked him to.
Dusty Hill.Ian Gavan/Getty Images
We need a bass,'" Hill toldFor Bass Players Onlyin 2016.
“Most bass players are guitar players first.
Hill founded ZZ Top with Beard and Gibbons in 1969, after he and Beard moved to Houston.
The band members also became iconic for their bearded look (except, ironically, for Beard).
In 1984, Hill infamously shot himself in the stomach and had to drive to the hospital.
It was an incident he continued to be confounded by years later when speaking toClassic Rockmagazine.
“My first reaction was: ‘S—!’
And then ‘Ouch.’
I couldn’t believe I’d done something so stupid,” he said in 2010.
“To this day, I don’t know how I could do it.
But I didn’t really feel anything at the time.
“I don’t know that there is a secret.
But you gotta hit it with the fun part,” he said.
“We enjoy what we do.
That’s as close as I can come to answering the question.
Different nights have different things in store for you, and it makes it interesting.
That’s as close as I can come to say it.
I’m the best Dusty Hill I know.”
He also shared his biggest accomplishments in the interview, praising his family and his band.
“That’s easy.
I’m proud of the band and also of my wife and family,” he said.
“They are constants, and to have these people in my life does give me immense pride.”
