BIOGRAPHY
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, electric guitarist, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa worked in various musical genres, and wrote for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesizers, symphony orchestra, and created musique concrète works. He also worked on feature-length films, music videos, and 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.
Zappa's major commercial successes, especially within his native United States, were few. He received multiple GrammyBest Rock Instrumental PerformanceJazz from Hell. Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. In 2005, his album with the Mothers of Invention, We're Only in It for the Money (1968), was included in the National Recording Registry of the US National Recording Preservation Board. The same year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 71st in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2007 his birthplace, Baltimore, declared August 9 official "Frank Zappa Day" in his honor. nominations and won the in 1987 for the album
Politically, Zappa was a self-proclaimed "practical conservative". He was a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion, and a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship. His work embodied his skeptical view of established political processes and structures. Zappa strongly opposed recreational drug use, although the use of drugs was common among musicians.
Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1964 (no children), and in 1967, to Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa manages the businesses of her late husband, now arranged as a trust under the name the Zappa Family Trust.
