A Stranded Woman Inspired This Massive ZZ Top Single

ZZ Top spent more than 20 years releasing hit songs to radio. But one of the rock band’s most notable tunes is “Legs”. The song, which was their only single released in 1984, is on Eliminator, ZZ Top’s eighth studio album.

Written by ZZ Top members Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard, “Legs” begins with, “She got legs / She knows how to use them / She never begs / She knows how to choose them.” 

A song that has been part of their live shows since it was released, “Legs” is actually based on a real-life event. It happened when Gibbons saw a woman stranded on the highway.

“I was driving in Los Angeles, and there was this unusual downpour,” Gibbons recalls. “And there was a real pretty girl on the side of the road. I passed her, and then I thought, ‘Well, I’d better pull over’ or at least turn around and offer her a ride, and by the time I got back she was gone.”

She may have been gone, but she left a permanent mark in Gibbons’ memory.

“Her legs were the first thing I noticed,” Gibbons says. “Then I noticed that she had a Brooke Shields hairdo that was in danger of falling. She was not going to get wet. She had legs, and she knew how to use them.”

The Success of ZZ Top After “Legs”

“Legs” made an already popular band even more popular, thanks not only to the song, but to the video for “Legs” as well. Although ZZ Top had been around for more than a decade by the time “Legs” was released, they gained even more fans thanks to the popular music video for “Legs”. 

“Legs” is ZZ Top’s fourth Top 10 single. It follows “Tube Snake Boogie”, “Gimme All Your Lovin’”, and “Sharp Dressed Man”, which all made it into the Top 10. After “Legs”, ZZ Top, likely not coincidentally, scored their first No. 1 single, with “Sleeping Bag”. That song was followed by “Stages”, which also hit No. 1.

Following “Legs”, ZZ Top had numerous other hits that landed at the top of the charts. Their other No. 1 singles include “Doubleback”, “Concrete And Steel”, “My Head’s In Mississippi”,  and “Burger Man”. In 1994, ZZ Top had their final No. 1 single, with “Pincushion”. Their last Top 20 came in 1999, with “Fearless Boogie”. 

Nickelback covered “Legs” in 2011 on the tribute record ZZ Top: A Tribute from Friends.

Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images

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