Billy F Gibbons and the BFG Band

Billy F Gibbons, founder and frontman of ZZ Top, for more than six decades, is bringing his acclaimed solo project, Billy F Gibbons and the BFG Band, to the Grove of Anaheim on Sunday, January 25, 2026. The performance is part of the newly announced 2026 tour featuring Billy on guitar and vocals, along with fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chris “Whipper” Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble) on drums and Austin legend Mike “The Drifter” Flanigin on Hammond organ, bass and backing vocals.

Tickets for the Grove of Anaheim show are available via Ticketmaster, Friday, November 7, at 10AM.

The tour, the third such in-person solo endeavor by Gibbons, kicks off January 20 at the Uptown Theatre in Napa, before making its way to Anaheim on January 25. Other appearances thereafter include Phoenix, Santa Fe and Denver. Another tour stop is set for January 31 at the legendary Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the site of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper’s final performance just about 67 years earlier. February dates will see Billy and the BFGs in the Midwest, New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic region, with the tour concluding February 28 at Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse, for a total of 28 dates over the course of six weeks.

Gibbons commented, I’m joined with Whipper and The Drifter, in our collective Texas collective blues tradition.  There’s a bond that speaks volumes about our sonic skew,” adding “one might hear a surf tune or some other detour of loudness as what we do is looser than our collective background might suggest. We predict good times as we always say, “Ya' can’t lose with the blues.”

Over the course of the past ten years, Billy Gibbons has released three albums on his own, including the Afro-Cuban flavored Perfectamundo, the self-explanatory follow up titled The Big Bad Blues and most recently Hardware. When not on the road, Gibbons has been recording a fourth as-yet-untitled album for Concord Records, to be released early this coming year. A new track titled “Brown Paper Bag,” is expected to be released concurrent with kickoff of the new tour. Another track from Billy Gibbons, “Livin’ It Up Down In Texas,” was released earlier and is the centerpiece of the recently issued MCA Nashville album Landman [Songs From and Inspired by the Paramount+ Original Series (Volume 1)].

Chris “Whipper” Layton has long been close to Billy Gibbons and part of The Jungle Show, a confluence of great players who for many years have performed at Antone’s in Austin between Christmas and New Year. Following the tragic death of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Layton joined forces with his former Double Trouble bandmate Tommy Shannon, along with Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton to form Arc Angels. In recent years he’s been the primary drummer on the Experience Hendrix Tour, backing topflight players ranging from Taj Mahal and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, to Eric Johnson and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. 

Mike ‘The Drifter’ Flanigin is a shining light of the Texas blues scene and a master of the Hammond B3 organ, known for his collaborations with Gibbons on The Jungle Show as well as with Jimmie Vaughan. He’s recorded several well received solo albums and joined forces with ZZ Top at the Montreux Jazz Festival. A musical jack of all trades, he most recently recorded a bluegrass single in Nashville of his composition “When My Baby Plays The Cannonball” with bluegrass greats Rob and Ronnie McCoury.