Rock Icons ZZ Top Bring Elevation Tour to the Classic Center Theater In Athens, GA In October 2025

ATHENS, GA – April 15, 2025—Rock and Roll Hall of Famers ZZ Top will bring their 2025 Elevation Tour, presented by CHMF Entertainment to The Classic Center Theatre in Athens, GA on Sunday, October 5, 2025. Tickets will go on sale Friday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m. at ClassicCenter.com.

“That Little Ol’ Band From Texas” has been at it for well over a half century, delivering rock, blues and boogie on the road and in the studio to millions of devoted fans. With iconography as distinctive as their sound, ZZ Top is virtually synonymous with beards, hotrod cars, spinning guitars and that magic keychain, all of which transcend geography and language.

It was in Houston in the waning days of 1969 that ZZ Top coalesced from the core of two rival bands, Billy Gibbons’ Moving Sidewalks and Frank Beard and Dusty Hill’s American Blues. Their third album, 1973’s Tres Hombres, catapulted them to national attention with the hit “La Grange”, still one of the band’s signature pieces today. Eliminator, their 1983 album was something of a paradigm shift for ZZ Top. Their roots blues skew was intact but added to the mix were tech-age trappings that soon found a visual outlet with such tracks as “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs” on the nascent MTV. It was one of the music industry’s first albums to have been certified Diamond, far beyond Gold and Platinum and a reflection of US domestic sales exceeding 10 million units.

The band’s line-up of the bearded Gibbons and Hill and Beard, who ironically is clean shaven, remained intact for more than 50 years until Dusty’s passing. When Dusty temporarily departed the tour in the summer of 2021, it was a given that Elwood would be the perfect choice to stand in for Dusty until he could return. But Dusty’s return was not to be, and Elwood continues to handle the bass duties for the band now and into the future.

The elements that keep ZZ Top fresh, enduring and above the transitory fray can be summed up in the three words of the band’s internal mantra: “Tone, Taste and Tenacity.” As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers. Their influences are both the originators of the form – Muddy Waters, B.B. King, et al as well as the British blues rockers and Jimi Hendrix who emerged the generation before ZZ’s ascendance.

Located in Athens, Georgia, The Classic Center is a premier multi-use conference center, performing arts theatre, and covered outdoor pavilion. We host a wide range of events, including conventions, conferences, meetings, weddings, concerts, sporting tournaments, and special events. Our newly opened Akins Ford Arena further enhances our ability to bolster the economic, entertainment, and cultural well-being of Athens, offering expanded event capabilities and accommodating up to 8,500 attendees.