ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, the long-bearded man and also a guitar hero, told Classic Rock Magazine that he appreciates sleeping on the floor on hotels when on tours. They also talked about ZZ Top’s 50th anniversary which is next year.
The interviewer asked him if he still sleeps on hotel’s floors when on tours:
“[Laughs] Very true. To this day.”
He was asked why:
“Well, it gives a certain measure of confidence in this topsy-turvy world we call touring. There’s so many unanticipated events that surround every waking moment.”
“To have the solidity of sleeping on the solid ground, I just find it comforting. And you combine that with picking a room that has many right angles.”
“Nothing circular. Avoid furnishings that have rounded armrests, for instance. Because the circles have no definition, whereas with right angles you know where you’re going.”
The interviewer added that Gibbons said once that he doesn’t know which city they are heading:
“[Laughs] That’s right!”
About ZZ Top’s 50th anniversary:
“We just came to grips with that unanticipated term. It seems nearly unbelievable. But what we’ve managed to maintain is the enjoyment factor.”
“Someone said, ‘What has kept you guys together for longer than most marriages?’ Quite simply, we still enjoy that we get to do what we get to do. More than anything else we can think of.”
“It’s like the old saying goes – ‘If you like what you do, it’s not a job.'”
And we’re gearing up to do something special. A 50-year celebration’s quite a rarity in the rock ‘n’ roll world.
But you know, I was talking to Keith Richards recently, I bumped into him in Nashville, and he was grinning.
“He said, ‘If we can follow in the footsteps of Muddy Waters and do this ’til the day we die, then we’re ahead of the game.'”
