ZZ Top looks to the "La Futura" (Updated January 16, 2013)

For a band that's been around as long as ZZ Top, fans didn't have to worry they were going to rest on their laurels. In 2012, the band hooked up with producer Rick Rubin to cut what some critics are calling their best album since 1983's "Eliminator." Dubbed "La Futura," the album is full of soulful blues and high-octane boogie that represents ZZ Top at its best.

Though it took nine years for the band to come out with a new album (following 2003's "Mescalero"), they managed to blend the sound of their early material with contemporary technology to bring the project together. Four of the new tracks debuted as an iTunes-only collection on June 5, 2012. The rest of the album bowed three months later.

ZZ Top has announced tour dates for Europe and Australia in 2013. The band will head down under, playing shows with Guns N'Roses in Australia March 9-March 20. They will also be headlining shows and playing festivals from June 18-July 14 in Europe. The band had previously toured with Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

ZZ Top were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2004. As a group, they have 11 gold and 7 platinum records to their name. They continue to remaster versions of original studio albums from the 1970s and '80s. "The Eliminator Collector's Edition" CD/DVD, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Diamond Certified album, was released on September 10, 2008.

A History of ZZ Top tickets

Check out ZZ Top's Gang of Outlaws tour. ZZ Top tickets are always a hot item. That's because the blues rock trio's live shows are legendary for the way they rock crowds into a Texas-sized frenzy. Formed in 1969 in Texas, ZZ Top has delivered its signature brand of blues-based boogie rock for more than 40 years. Band members Billy Gibbons (guitar, vocals), Dusty Hill (bass, vocals), and Frank Beard (drums) have adapted their style to remain a popular concert favorite, adding synthesized effects at times and adopting a more polished studio sound in the 1980s and 1990s. But as their fans know, the blues, boogie and heavy-guitar Texas rock remains the core of their sound.

The Bearded Ones

ZZ Top shot to the top of the hit charts with the release of their third album, "Tres Hombres" in 1973 and "Fandango" in 1975, with the mega-hit 'Tush.' By the mid-1970s they had attracted a massive fan base and began building their reputation for selling out stadium concerts. After a 2-year hiatus, the trio came back with the same rocking sound but a different look: Gibbons and Hill had grown chest-length beards (separately, without each other's knowledge!) and have remained bearded since. The band's fame took another big jump in the 1980s with the release of "Eliminator" (1983) and "Afterburner" (1985) with simple, sexy and easily lovable hits like 'Gimme All Your Lovin,' 'Sharp Dressed Man,' 'Legs,' and 'Velcro Fly.' ZZ Top tickets are a guaranteed voucher to a night of no-apologies rock, with stellar guitar work, lyrics to sing along with, a few laughs, and, oh yeah, beards.