Former ZZ Top manager Bill Ham, who at one time was considered the most powerful person in the Austin music scene, died Saturday at his home in Austin. He was 79.

Ham, who started his business in Houston and moved to Austin in 1992, also ran the Hamstein Music Group, a collection of boutique music publishers that he started in 1969 with the songs of ZZ Top. He would later manage and publish Clint Black.

Ham managed ZZ Top for nearly 40 years and was known for being extraordinarily protective of his clients, highly private and a tough negotiator. He got ZZ top a reported $30m-plus, five-album deal from RCA in 1992 after they left their longtime label Warner Bros.

“We were saddened to hear of Bill Ham’s passing,” the members of ZZ Top—Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard—said in a statement. His early vision and continuing encouragement were invaluable; his efforts and energy will always remain deeply appreciated. “

In 1967, Ham met guitarist Gibbons backstage at a Doors concert and helped him form ZZ Top as his band The Moving Sidewalks had just broken up. After an initial single on Ham’s Scat Records, Ham found Beard to come in as the new drummer. Beard then recruited his bass-playing friend Hill, who was hired after a two hour audition.

Ham was credited with shaping ZZ Top’s image and mystique, preventing the musicians from recording on other artists’ records and keeping guests off the trio’s albums. Besides ZZ Top and Black, Ham’s other Lone Wolf clients included Rocky Hill, Eric Johnson and Van Wilks.