ZZ Top New Zealand tour: Legendary rockers to bring Elevation Tour to NZ in 2025

Legendary rockers ZZ Top are returning to New Zealand in May 2025. Photo / Blain Clausen

It’s time to get “sharply dressed” and don your best “cheap sunglasses”, as legendary rockers ZZ Top are returning to New Zealand.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers announced a string of dates Downunder on Monday as part of The Elevation Tour.

The La Grange hitmakers will perform just two shows in Aotearoa in May 2025 - one in Auckland and one in Wellington - after hitting Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

The Elevation Tour dates will also feature support from blues-rock unit George Thorogood & The Destroyers.

A staple of the blues-rock and boogie sound for going on six decades, ZZ Top formed in Houston in 1969. The Texas trio maintained their original line-up - Billy Gibbons (vocals and guitar), Frank Beard (drums) and Dusty Hill (bass and vocals) - for more than 50 years, until Hill’s death in 2021. He was 72.

As a touring entity, the current line-up consists of Gibbons, Beard and bassist Elwood Francis.

The band have been performing for six decades. Photo / Blain Clausen

“With classic songs such as Sharp Dressed Man, Legs and Gimme Me All Your Lovin' and iconography as distinctive as their sound, ZZ Top is virtually synonymous with beards, hot-rod cars, spinning guitars and that magic keychain, all of which transcend geography and language," a spokesperson for Live Nation said on Monday.

“They have sold hundreds of millions of records over the course of their career, have been officially designated as Heroes of The State of Texas, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [by Keith Richards, no less] and have been referenced in countless cartoons and sitcoms.

“They are true rock icons and, against all odds, they’re really just doing what they’ve always done.”

ZZ Top last performed in Aotearoa in February last year, headlining the Taupō Summer Concert alongside Stone Temple Pilots and Pat Benatar.

General tickets will go on sale from 1pm on Monday, December 9 via livenation.co.nz.

ZZ Top with George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Australia/New Zealand 2025

• Tuesday, April 29 – Adelaide, AEC Arena
• Thursday, May 1 – Perth, Langley Park
• Wednesday, May 7 – Melbourne, Margaret Court Arena
• Tuesday, May 13 – Sydney, ICC Sydney Theatre
• Saturday, May 17 – Auckland, Spark Arena
• Sunday, May 18 – Wellington, TSB Arena.

ZZ Top and George Thorogood & The Destroyers are also touring Australia as part of Red Hot Summer 2025.

Ticket info

• Mastercard presale: noon, Wednesday, December 4 until noon Friday, December 6
• Live Nation presale: noon, Friday, December 6 until noon Monday, December 9
• Ticket Agent presale: 1pm, Friday, December 6 until noon Monday, December 9
• General tickets on sale from 1pm, Monday, December 9.

For more information head to livenation.co.nz and livenation.com.au.