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Frank Zappa

Personal Profile

Frank Zappa
  • Birth Name:
    Frank Vincent Zappa
  • Common Name:
    Zappa
  • Date of Birth:
    December 21, 1940
  • Zodiac Sign:
    Capricorn
  • Place of Birth:
    Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  • Place of Death:
    Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Date of Death:
    December 4, 1993
  • Cause of Death:
    Prostate Cancer
  • Height:
    6' 0"
  • Sex:
    Male
  • Nationality:
    American

Family

Frank Zappa
  • Spouse:
    Gail Zappa
    Kay Sherman - Divorced
  • Son:
    Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan
  • Daughter:
    Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen

Career

Frank Zappa

Trivia

Frank Zappa
  • When marrying Gail Zappa in a civil ceremony, Zappa pinned a pin saying 'congratulations from Mayor Lindsay' onto her in the absence of a ring.
  • Was a school friend of Don Van Vliet (later, alias Captain Beefheart).
  • Is known affectionately by his fans as FZ.
  • Has an enormous following in the former communist countries of east-Europe.
  • In July 1994 the International Astronomical Union named a Czech-discovered asteroid, "Zappafrank."
  • As a child, his favorite TV program was Robert Clampett''s puppet show, "Time for Beany" (1949).
  • The small town of Bad Doberan, Germany holds an annual Zappanale festival, celebrating his life and music (first held in 1990).
  • Was of French, Sicilian, Neapolitan, Greek and Arab ancestry.
  • Is buried next to Lew Ayres in Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California.
  • Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Quotes

Frank Zappa
  • "I think business is a good thing. Generals could learn a lot from corporate executives. The first rule is, you don't kill your customers."
  • "During an appearance in 1986 on CNN's Crossfire: The biggest threat to America today is not Communism. It's the turning of this country into a Fascist Theocracy and everything that's happened during the Reagan Administration has put us right down that pipe!"
  • "My dad was employed as a meteorologist at the Edgewood Arsenal. They made poison gas there during World War II, so I guess it would have been the meteorologist's job to figure out which way the wind was blowing when it was time to shoot the stuff off."
  • "Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say that there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe."
  • "Watch out where the huskies go, don't you eat that yellow snow."
  • "It is probably more natural to perform sex with a sea urchin than to be interviewed."
  • "Censoring what you say is one of the ways in which people who are not nice can take away your personal freedom."
  • "Religion has mostly proven to be a real-estate scam."
  • "People like to own things."
  • "Speed will turn you into your parents."
View all Quotes: Frank Zappa

Biography

Frank Zappa
Last Updated: Monday, September 21, 2009

frank zappaOf 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, businessperson, 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. Frank Vincent 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 narrowly graduating from high school, and then dropping out of Junior College (where he met his first wife, Kay Sherman), Zappa worked in such jobs as window dresser, copywriter, and door-to-door salesperson. 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 also for offending various groups (usually religious and political).

frank zappaThe 200 Motels soundtrack was deemed too offensive by the Royal Albert Hall, who cancelled scheduled concerts in 1975; and the song 'Jewish Princess' (1979) led to Jewish calls for Zappa to apologise. These, and such events as Zappa testifying before Congress in 1985 against rock music censorship, being appointed by Czechoslovakian 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, Moon, Ahmet, and Diva, soon-after released a statement to the press that simply stated: "Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6pm Saturday."

Filmography

Frank Zappa

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