Billy Gibbons and Keith Urban Team Up on New Single ‘Brown Paper Bag’

The ZZ Top guitarist’s latest solo track arrives as the Dos Amigos Tour kicks off its European run in Finland.

Billy Gibbons has released a new solo single, ‘Brown Paper Bag,’ featuring country star Keith Urban on guitar. Gibbons describes Urban’s contribution as some ‘good-ass’ guitar on the track, which leans into the fuzz-heavy, slinky blues territory Gibbons has made his solo calling card. The release arrives as ZZ Top prepares to open the European leg of their Dos Amigos Tour in Helsinki on June 24.

Brown Paper Bag Keeps Gibbons in Familiar Fuzz Territory

The new single finds Gibbons in comfortable company. Urban’s guitar work slots naturally into the track’s low-slung groove, and the pairing underscores how Gibbons has spent the years since ZZ Top’s last studio album building a solo catalog that sits comfortably alongside the band’s classic output.

ZZ Top has not released an album of new material since 2012’s La Futura. In the intervening years, Gibbons has issued three solo records: 2015’s Perfectamundo, 2018’s The Big Bad Blues, and 2021’s Hardware. No album announcement accompanies ‘Brown Paper Bag,’ but the single signals Gibbons has no intention of stepping back from the studio.

Gibbons also appears on 7 Hombres, Una Noche, En Vivo En El Luna Park, Celebrando Sus 35 Años, a live album released last year by Argentine blues band La Mississippi, further evidence of his continued appetite for collaboration across genres and borders.

ZZ Top’s Dos Amigos Tour Heads to Europe, Then Back to the US

ZZ Top begins the European leg of the Dos Amigos Tour in Finland later this month, with the run stretching through Spain before the band returns to North America for a packed August and September schedule. Last year, Gibbons played 140 shows between ZZ Top commitments and his solo band, which also performed at the Rory Gallagher Tribute Festival in Donegal, Ireland.

The full European and US tour schedule:

• Jun 24 — Veikkaus Arena, Helsinki, Finland
• Jun 28 — Sverresborg, Trondheim, Norway
• Jun 30 — Arena Malmö, Malmö, Sweden
• Jul 02 — Stadtpark Open Air, Hamburg, Germany
• Jul 03 — Seewiese, Friedberg, Germany
• Jul 04 — Waldbühne Northeim, Northeim, Germany
• Jul 06 — Enteria Arena, Pardubice, Czechia
• Jul 07 — VAZ St. Pölten, St. Pölten, Austria
• Jul 09 — National Forest, Brussels, Belgium
• Jul 10 — Rockhal, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
• Jul 11 — Evenemententerrein Weert-Noord, Weert, Netherlands
• Jul 13 — Jahnstadion Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
• Jul 15 — Adidas Arena, Paris, France
• Jul 19 — Barts Festival 2026, Barcelona, Spain
• Jul 22 — FAR València 2026, Valencia, Spain
• Aug 04 — North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA
• Aug 07 — Saroyan Theatre, Fresno, CA
• Aug 08 — The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA
• Aug 09 — The Fruit Yard Amphitheater, Modesto, CA
• Aug 11 — Marymoor Park Concerts, Redmond, WA
• Aug 14 — Ilani Cowlitz Ballroom, Ridgefield, WA
• Aug 18 — Sandy Amphitheater, Sandy, UT
• Aug 19 — Pikes Peak Center, Colorado Springs, CO
• Aug 22 — Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, Austin, TX
• Aug 23 — Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, Austin, TX
• Aug 26 — Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI
• Aug 28 — Firekeepers Casino, Battle Creek, MI
• Aug 29 — The Mill, Terre Haute, IN
• Aug 30 — Fraze Pavilion, Kettering, OH
• Sep 04 — Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, VT
• Sep 05 — BankNH Pavilion, Gilford, NH
• Sep 06 — Maine Savings Amphitheater, Bangor, ME
• Sep 09 — Lynn Memorial Auditorium, Lynn, MA
• Sep 11 — Motto Mortgage Preferred and RE/Max One Waterside Pavilion, Solomons, MD
• Sep 12 — Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT
• Sep 13 — Cape Cod Melody Tent, Hyannis, MA
• Sep 15 — American Music Theatre, Lancaster, PA
• Sep 18 — Greenfield Lake Amphitheater, Wilmington, NC

Gibbons Sets Sail with Kings of Chaos in October

Beyond the Dos Amigos Tour, Gibbons will join the Rock The Boat cruise, which departs Sydney, Australia on October 25. He will be accompanied by his Kings Of Chaos supergroup, a lineup that includes Glenn Hughes, Nuno Bettencourt, Robin Zander, Phil X, Matt Sorum, and James Lomenzo. Limited tickets remain for that event.

What we know

• Billy Gibbons has released a new solo single called ‘Brown Paper Bag’ featuring Keith Urban on guitar.
• Gibbons describes Keith Urban’s guitar contribution on the track as ‘good-ass’ guitar.
• No new album has been announced alongside the single.
• ZZ Top’s last studio album of new material was La Futura, released in 2012.
• Gibbons released three solo albums between 2015 and 2021: Perfectamundo, The Big Bad Blues, and Hardware.
• Gibbons played 140 shows last year between ZZ Top and his solo band.
• ZZ Top’s Dos Amigos Tour European leg begins June 24 at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki, Finland.
• Gibbons will join the Rock The Boat cruise departing Sydney, Australia on October 25 with his Kings Of Chaos supergroup.

The take

Billy Gibbons at 75 is operating at a pace that would exhaust musicians half his age, and ‘Brown Paper Bag’ fits neatly into the creative pattern he has established since ZZ Top went quiet in the studio after La Futura. His three solo albums have each leaned into a different corner of his influences, from Afro-Cuban rhythms on Perfectamundo to straight-ahead electric blues on The Big Bad Blues and the desert-rock grit of Hardware. Pairing with Keith Urban is a savvy move that mirrors how legacy rock figures have increasingly found common ground with Nashville’s guitar-forward wing. Urban is no stranger to serious fretwork, and the collaboration signals that Gibbons is more interested in finding sympathetic players than in chasing trends. The Dos Amigos Tour itself is worth noting in context: ZZ Top has been touring as a duo since the 2021 death of bassist Dusty Hill, and the band’s ability to sustain a major international touring schedule under that configuration speaks to the enduring commercial pull of the Gibbons-Frank Beard core. A 140-show year is a serious workload for any act, and the European run kicking off in Scandinavia before sweeping through Central Europe and into Spain reflects the band’s consistent strength on that continent, where blues-rooted American rock has always drawn devoted audiences.

Why it matters

For classic rock fans, ‘Brown Paper Bag’ is a reminder that Gibbons remains one of the most productive elder statesmen in the genre, releasing music on his own terms without the pressure of a full band album cycle. The Urban collaboration also points to a broader blurring of the country-rock divide that has been accelerating for years. Meanwhile, the Dos Amigos Tour’s scale, spanning two continents and dozens of dates, confirms that ZZ Top’s live draw remains formidable more than five decades into the band’s career.

What’s next

ZZ Top opens the European leg of the Dos Amigos Tour on June 24 at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki. The European run continues through July 22 in Valencia, Spain, before the band returns to North America for dates beginning August 4 in Chula Vista, California. Gibbons is also scheduled to join the Rock The Boat cruise departing Sydney on October 25 with Kings Of Chaos.

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