Following a grueling recount during the 2000 election between Democrat and former vice president Al Gore and former governor of Texas George W. Bush, the Texan native was awarded the victory, becoming the 43rd president of the United States. Bush attained a second big win when he was reelected in the 2004 presidential race. As with any big win, and winning the presidency twice in a row is on the top of them, Bush needed a proper party. After all, the Presidential Inaugural Ball is a time-honored tradition.
The ball is usually a black or white tie affair — you know, fancy stuff — but George W. is Texan through and through, so his party needed a touch of "grit" as well. Who do you think he invited to the ball? According to Blabbermouth, the two-time president elected to have Ted Nugent and none other than ZZ Top headline the affair. Before the thing even kicked off, Nugent told the press it was "gonna be mayhem," which sounds a little unorthodox for a presidential ball, but Bush wasn't complaining.
Nugent ended up canceling, MRT notes, but the Top boys showed up. This wasn't their first Bush rodeo. Following Bush's first presidential victory in 2000, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Lawrence), ZZ Top played at the campaign's pre-inauguration party in Washington, D.C. Maybe they felt they owed the new president a favor for some reason...
