Description: Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture. Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny. Of all the qualities that typified Frank Zappa, perhaps the most striking is that he was a paradox. A workaholic perfectionist rock star who eschewed the hippie culture of the 1960s, deploring its conformism, spurious ideals and drug use, Zappa was not only a brilliant rock guitarist but an orchestral compos Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture.

Jazz isn't dead, it just smells funny. Of all the qualities that typified Frank Zappa, perhaps the most striking is that he was a paradox. A workaholic perfectionist rock star who eschewed the hippie culture of the 1960s, deploring its conformism, spurious ideals and drug use, Zappa was not only a brilliant rock guitarist but an orchestral composer, innovative filmmaker, music producer, businessman, iconoclast and perceptive political and social commentator. His oeuvre continually amazes: over 60 albums of music from rock to orchestral, in addition to innumerable films, concerts and other accomplishments.

Zappa began to play drums at the age of 12, and was playing in R&B groups by high school, switching to guitar at 18. After barely graduating from high school, and then dropping out of junior college (where he met his first wife, Kay Sherman), Zappa worked at such jobs as window dresser, copywriter and door-to-door sales,an. With the money he earned from scoring Run Home, Slow (1965) (written by his high school English teacher, Don Cerveris), Zappa purchased a recording studio and, after concocting an allegedly obscene recording for an undercover policeman, spent ten days in jail. Zappa's diverse range of albums (both with the seminal and protean groups The Mothers of Invention and Zappa; as well as solo releases) are renowned not only for their bravura musicianship and satire, but for offending various groups (usually conservatives, both religious and political). The 200 Motels (1971) soundtrack was deemed too offensive by the Royal Albert Hall, which canceled scheduled concerts in 1975; and the song "Jewish Princess" (1979) led to Jewish calls for Zappa to apologize. These, and such events as Zappa testifying before Congress in 1985 against rock music censorship, being appointed by Czech president Václav Havel as his Cultural Liaison Officer or considering running for US president, have unfortunately been Zappa's only real source of mainstream publicity.

Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991, Zappa nonetheless continued working at his Hollywood Hills home, until his death on 4 December 1993. His widow, Gail, and children Dweezil Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa, Ahmet Zappa and Diva Zappa, soon released a statement to the press that simply stated: "Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6pm Saturday."

Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. ... (more)

Tags: Fusion (4), Experimental (3), Eccentric (3), Born 1940 (3), Died 1993 (3), Sagittarius (3), Died Aged 52 (3), Humor (2), 80s (2), 70s (2), Progressive Rock (2), Cancer (2), American (2), Deceased (2), Guitar God (2), Prostate Cancer (2), Steve Vai (2), 60s (1), Dweezil Zappa (1), Sting (1)

My tags: 👁 Image
Add tags

Music

Most popular

Top rated

Most recent

👁 Image

1. Hot Rats

Rating:

8.3

40 own

👁 Image

2. Freak Out!

Rating:

25 own

👁 Image

3. We're Only in It for the Money

Rating:

8.1

26 own

👁 Image

4. Apostrophe (') (1995)

Rating:

8.1

17 own

👁 Image

5. Over-Nite Sensation

Rating:

8.1

13 own

View all Frank Zappa music (117 more)

👁 Image

1. Joe's Garage Acts 1-2-3 (1995)

Rating:

8.3

18 own

👁 Image

2. The Grand Wazoo

Rating:

8.3

15 own

👁 Image

3. Hot Rats

Rating:

8.3

40 own

👁 Image

4. Apostrophe (') (1995)

Rating:

8.1

17 own

👁 Image

5. Sheik Yerbouti (1995)

Rating:

8.1

17 own

View all Frank Zappa music (117 more)

👁 Image

1. Dance Me This (2017)

0 want this

👁 Image

2. Baby Snakes (2012)

Rating:

2 own

👁 Image

3. Yellow Shark (2012)

Rating:

2 own

👁 Image

4. Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More (2012)

Rating:

0 want this

👁 Image

5. Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (2012)

Rating:

0 want this

View all Frank Zappa music (117 more)

TV

Most popular

Top rated

Most recent

👁 Image

1. Saturday Night Live (1975)

Rating:

7.7

1244 Watched

👁 Image

2. The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991)

Rating:

6.5

1185 Watched

👁 Image

3. Miami Vice

Rating:

6.7

353 Watched

👁 Image

4. Today (1952)

Rating:

7.1

151 Watched

👁 Image

5. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)

Rating:

8.4

106 Watched

View all Frank Zappa TV (15 more)

👁 Image

1. Biography (1987)

Rating:

8.4

102 Watched

👁 Image

2. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)

Rating:

8.4

106 Watched

👁 Image

3. The Mike Douglas Show (1961)

Rating:

31 Watched

👁 Image

4. Faerie Tale Theatre (1982)

Rating:

7.8

36 Watched

👁 Image

5. Saturday Night Live (1975)

Rating:

7.7

1244 Watched

View all Frank Zappa TV (15 more)

👁 Image

1. Miami Vice

Rating:

6.7

353 Watched

👁 Image

2. Àngel Casas Show (1984)

0 want to see

👁 Image

3. Thicke of the Night (1983)

Rating:

1 Watched

👁 Image

4. Dance Fever (1979)

Rating:

6.5

2 Watched

👁 Image

5. The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991)

Rating:

6.5

1185 Watched

View all Frank Zappa TV (15 more)

Movies

Most popular

Top rated

Most recent

👁 Image

1. Fuck (2007)

Rating:

6.9

66 Watched

👁 Image

2. Head (1968)

Rating:

6.8

65 Watched

👁 Image

3. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.2

33 Watched

👁 Image

4. Mondo Hollywood: Hollywood Laid Bare! (1967)

Rating:

12 want to see

👁 Image

5. Super Duper Alice Cooper (2014)

Rating:

6.6

22 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (11 more)

👁 Image

1. Fuck (2007)

Rating:

6.9

66 Watched

👁 Image

2. Head (1968)

Rating:

6.8

65 Watched

👁 Image

1. The Velvet Underground

Rating:

6.8

12 Watched

👁 Image

2. Zappa (2020)

Rating:

10 Watched

👁 Image

3. How Mudvayne's LD 50 Reinvigorated Prog Rock (2020)

1 want to see

👁 Image

4. Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

Rating:

8.3

5 Watched

👁 Image

5. Echo in the Canyon

Rating:

8.3

5 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (11 more)

Movies directed by

Most popular

Most recent

👁 Image

1. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.2

33 Watched

👁 Image

2. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

👁 Image

3. Does Humor Belong in Music? (1985)

Rating:

6 Watched

👁 Image

4. The Amazing Mister Bickford

Rating:

7.3

4 Watched

👁 Image

5. Uncle Meat

Rating:

6.5

4 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (1 more)

👁 Image

1. Roxy the Movie (2015)

0 want to see

👁 Image

2. Does Humor Belong in Music? (1985)

Rating:

6 Watched

👁 Image

3. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

👁 Image

4. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.2

33 Watched

👁 Image

5. The Amazing Mister Bickford

Rating:

7.3

4 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (1 more)

Movies written by

Most popular

Most recent

👁 Image

1. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.2

33 Watched

👁 Image

2. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

👁 Image

3. Does Humor Belong in Music? (1985)

Rating:

6 Watched

👁 Image

4. The Amazing Mister Bickford

Rating:

7.3

4 Watched

👁 Image

5. Uncle Meat

Rating:

6.5

4 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (1 more)

👁 Image

1. Does Humor Belong in Music? (1985)

Rating:

6 Watched

👁 Image

2. Baby Snakes (1979)

Rating:

10 Watched

👁 Image

3. 200 Motels (1971)

Rating:

6.2

33 Watched

👁 Image

4. The Amazing Mister Bickford

Rating:

7.3

4 Watched

👁 Image

5. Uncle Meat

Rating:

6.5

4 Watched

View all Frank Zappa movies (1 more)

Books

👁 Image

1. The Real Frank Zappa Book (1990)

Rating:

3 own

👁 Image

2. Them or Us

1 own

👁 Image

1. Them or Us

1 own

👁 Image

2. The Real Frank Zappa Book (1990)

Rating:

3 own

Update feed

👁 Image

Daedalus added this to a list 1 year, 2 months ago

Favorite Artists (15 person items)

👁 Image

Darth Brutus added this to a list 1 year, 3 months ago

👁 Image
People I find Inspiring (102 person items)

"I may not fully agree with everything he's said over the years nor do I love every aspect of his personality. I do find him highly inspiring figure, nevertheless. Frank Zappa had this "just do it" attitude where he would just go and take whatever he wanted and get shit done. One thing he taught was that if you're really interested in something, don't go to school but library. Don't ever expect other people to know what you want or need, go do things yourself and get the best things out of your l"

👁 Image

gaucho108 voted for 3 images 1 year, 3 months ago

👁 Image
👁 Image
👁 Image

👁 Image

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 1 year, 5 months ago

Gone, but not forgotten (2052 person items)

👁 Image

Agent Kermit D. Fonz added this to a list 1 year, 6 months ago

Celebrity Recluses (194 person items)

👁 Image

Green.Tissue.Box added this to a list 3 years, 1 month ago

👁 Image
You named you baby what?!!! (82 person items)

"named his daughter, 'Moon Unit Zappa'. They also have three other children named Diva, Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa."

👁 Image

onclelapin posted a image 3 years, 6 months ago

👁 Image

flover posted a image 3 years, 9 months ago

👁 Image

william maxey 83 added this to a list 4 years ago

Music...American Rock Star (151 music items)

👁 Image

Onion Jack added this to a list 4 years, 3 months ago

👁 Image
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (420 music items)

"CLASS OF 1995PERFORMERSFRANK ZAPPA● ROCK ● BLUES ● EXPERIMENTAL ● JAZZ ● CLASSICAL ●● POP ● AVANT-GARDE ● DOO-WOP ●FRANK VINCENT ZAPPA Born: 21 December 1940 Died 4 December 1993 RIAA CERTIFICATIONS- = STUDIO ALBUMS = - ► Gold: 2 ◄KEY SONGSBrown Shoes Don't Make It (1967) - with 'The Mothers of Invention'- selected for 'The 660 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll'Montana (1973) - with 'The Mothers'- selected for 'The 660 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll' "

👁 Image

SA-512 posted a image 4 years, 4 months ago

👁 Image

Onion Jack voted for an image 4 years, 4 months ago

👁 Image

Kandi voted for an image 4 years, 5 months ago

👁 Image

SA-512 posted a image 4 years, 6 months ago

👁 Image

mrmartho added this to a list 4 years, 10 months ago

Favorite Artists (120 person items)

👁 Image