Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa  (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, 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 The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist.

While in his teens, he acquired a taste for percussion-based avant-garde composers such as Edgard Varèse and 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands; he later switched to electric guitar. He was a self-taught composer and performer, and his diverse musical influences led him to create music that was often impossible to categorize. His 1966 debut album with The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!, combined songs in conventional rock and roll format with collective improvisations and studio-generated sound collages. His later albums shared this eclectic and experimental approach, irrespective of whether the fundamental format was one of rock, jazz or classical. He wrote the lyrics to all his songs, which—often humorously—reflected his iconoclastic view of established social and political processes, structures and movements. He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech, self-education, political participation and the abolition of censorship.

Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist and gained widespread critical acclaim. Many of his albums are considered essential in rock and jazz history. He is regarded as one of the most original guitarists and composers of his time. He also remains a major influence on musicians and composers. He had some commercial success, particularly in Europe, and for most of his career was able to work as an independent artist. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964. In 1967, he married Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death from prostate cancer in 1993. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband under the name the Zappa Family Trust.

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The Ren & Stimpy Show

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Miami Vice

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Saturday Night Live

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Take Your Pills

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The Velvet Underground

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Head

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Fuck

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The Wrecking Crew

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Zappa

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The Monkees

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200 Motels

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Echo in the Canyon

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Super Duper Alice Cooper

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Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice

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Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words

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Faerie Tale Theatre

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Baby Snakes

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Manson: Music From an Unsound Mind

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Classic Albums: Frank Zappa - Apostrophe (') Over-Nite Sensation

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The Amazing Mr. Bickford

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Uncle Howard

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Laurel Canyon

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You Are What You Eat

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Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music

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Classic Albums

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Frank Zappa: The Dub Room Special!

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Derailroaded

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Omnibus

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Uncle Meat

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Frank Zappa - Summer '82: When Zappa Came to Sicily

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Larry Flynt for President

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Frank Zappa: Does Humor Belong in Music?

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Roxy: The Movie

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Made in Japan: The Rise of Deep Purple Mk II

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Frank Zappa: A Token Of His Extreme

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Video From Hell

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Frank Zappa: The Torture Never Stops

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Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees

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Hart & Soul - The Hart Family Anthology

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Frank Zappa: A Token of His Extreme

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Classic Albums: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!

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The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers

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Mondo Hollywood

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Beat-Club

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Feats First: The Life and Music of Lowell George

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Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth

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The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels

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All My Loving

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Steve Vai - His First 30 Years: The Documentary

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From Straight to Bizarre

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The Yellow Shark

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Late Night Line-Up

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Zapped: Frank Zappa par Frank Zappa

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Deep Purple: Made In Japan

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Led Zeppelin Played Here

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Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here

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Frank Zappa: We Don't Mess Around

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Pražákům, těm je hej

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Frank Zappa - Live in Paris 1980

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The Big T.N.T. Show

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Frank Zappa - John, Dan And Me

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Frank Zappa: Live in Barcelona

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Služební cesta podporučíka Svěráka

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Decade

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Cover Your Ears

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Sex in Today's World

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Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution

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Cheepnis

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Frank Zappa filmt 200 Motels

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Frank Zappa: New York and Elsewhere

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Frank Zappa: The Present-Day Composer Refuses To Die

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Frank Zappa: Phase II - The Big Note

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Burnt Weeny Sandwich

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Funny

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Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s

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EAV Rarities

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Stupor Mundi: Livre 1, Rituel de décapitation du pape

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Frank Zappa: Music In Review

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A Life of Extravaganza - The Genius Frank Zappa

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Amougies (Music Power - European Music Revolution)

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The Rolling Stones - The First 20 Years

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Night Flight with Frank Zappa, Porn Wars

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Frank Zappa: The Broadcast Archives

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Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: In the 1960's

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Kalvøyafestivalen - 50 år siden første riff

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The Art of Dissent

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Stupor Mundi: Livre 2, Les Hommes qui mangèrent la montagne

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Stupor Mundi: Livre 3, La plus dangereuse rencontre

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An American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa

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Rock this Town

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Frank Zappa: Peefeeyatko

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Cocaine Blues

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Porridge and kerosene

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The Male Swagger

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The Revenge of the Dead Indians

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Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention - The Lost Broadcast: The Beat Club '68

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Your vote

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Live at Whisky a Go Go 1968

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Frank Zappa

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Frank Zappa: A Pioneer of the Future of Music

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The Artist Formerly Known As Captain Beefheart

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Marian Briozzo

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Frank Zappa: The Freak Out List

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Frank Zappa - Over-Nite Sensation

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Girls and Boys - Sex and British Pop

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Good Evening — I'm Jonathan King

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Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution

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