Thayer confirmed the band’s recent studio activities in a September 2026 interview with Guitar World , saying: “We did record a great new song that Paul wrote. That’s probably about as much as I can tell you right now.”
ZZ Top played their first show after Beard’s death with touring drummer Michael Monahan (who had already been filling in for Beard before his death) at Austin’s ACL Live, which took place at the Moody Theater , on August 22, 2026.
Gibbons announced on the following day that the band would continue per Beard’s wishes, similar to Hill’s request in 2021.
On August 17, 2026, Beard died at the age of 77, leaving Gibbons as the only surviving member of ZZ Top’s classic lineup.
Original guitarist Ritchie Blackmore performed with Deep Purple for the first time in 33 years at the Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York on 12 August 2026, joining them for ” Smoke on the Water ” during the encore.
In August 2026, Nancy Wilson announced that Heart was finishing up work on a new studio album, and that a documentary, a world tour, and biopic were also on the way.
However, Sony Music fully consolidated global digital distribution rights in mid-August 2026, and copyright notices for Queen releases now mention both Queen Productions (a Sony-owned international holder of Queen recording copyrights) and Hollywood Records in all territories.
In August 2026 it was announced that Triumph (again joined by April Wine) would be extending the 50th anniversary tour into the late fall.
In August 2026, Daltrey revealed to the audience at a solo show in Las Vegas that The Who had recently rehearsed with Starkey for a possible European leg of the farewell tour, with Starkey later confirming Daltrey’s comments.
In August 2026, the band announced plans for a new album to be issued in 2027 and released the single “Jetpack” from the forthcoming release.