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Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa established himself as a prolific and highly distinctive composer, electric guitar player and band leader. He worked in almost every musical genre and wrote music for rock bands, jazz ensembles, synthesizers and symphony orchestra, as well as Musique concrète works constructed from pre-recorded, synthesized or sampled sources. In addition to his music recordings, he created feature-length and short films, music videos, and album covers.
Although he only occasionally achieved major commercial success, he maintained a highly productive career that encompassed composing, recording, touring, producing and merchandising his own and others' music. Zappa self-produced almost every one of the more than sixty albums he released with the Mothers of Invention or as a solo artist. He received multiple Grammy nominations and won for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1988 for the album Jazz 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 1968 album with the Mothers of Invention, We're Only in It for the Money, was inducted into the United States National Recording Preservation Board's National Recording Registry. The same year, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #71 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2007, his birthtown Baltimore declared August 9 official "Frank Zappa Day" in his honor.
Politically, Zappa was a self-proclaimed "practical conservative", an avowed supporter of capitalism and independent business. He was also a strident critic of mainstream education and organized religion. Zappa was a forthright and passionate advocate for freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship, and his work embodied his skeptical view of established political processes and structures. Although many assumed he was using drugs, in particular in his early career, as did many musicians at the time, Zappa strongly opposed recreational drug use.
Zappa was married to Kathryn "Kay" Sherman (1960–1964; no children), and then in 1967 to Adelaide Gail Sloatman, with whom he remained until his death in December 1993 of prostate cancer. They had four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Gail Zappa handles the businesses of her late husband under the company name the Zappa Family Trust.
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Discography:
* Freak Out! (June 27, 1966), US #130
* Absolutely Free (May 26, 1967), US #41
* We're Only in It for the Money (January 1968), US #30
* Lumpy Gravy (May 1968), US #159
* Cruising with Ruben & the Jets (December 2, 1968), US #110
* Uncle Meat (April 1969), US #43
* Hot Rats (October 1969), US #173
* Burnt Weeny Sandwich (February 1970), US #94
* Weasels Ripped My Flesh (August 10, 1970), US #189
* Chunga's Revenge (October 1970), US #119
* Fillmore East - June 1971 (August 1971), US #38
* 200 Motels (October 1971), US #59
* Just Another Band from L.A. (March 1972), US #85
* Waka/Jawaka (July 1972), US #152
* The Grand Wazoo (November 1972)
* Over-Nite Sensation (September 1973), US #32
* Apostrophe (') (March 1974), US #10
* Roxy & Elsewhere (September 1974), US #27
* One Size Fits All (June 1975), US #26
* Bongo Fury (October 1975), US #66
* Zoot Allures (October 1976), US #71
* Zappa in New York (March 1978), US #57
* Studio Tan (September 1978), US #147
* Sleep Dirt (January 1979), US #175
* Sheik Yerbouti (March 1979), US #21
* Orchestral Favorites (May 1979), US #168
* Joe's Garage (September 1979), US #27
* Tinsel Town Rebellion (May 11, 1981), US #66
* Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (May 1981)
* You Are What You Is (September 1981), US #93
* Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch (May 1982), US #23
* The Man from Utopia (March 1983), US #153
* Baby Snakes (March 1983)
* London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1 (June 1983)
* Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger (August 1984)
* Them or Us (October 18, 1984)
* Thing-Fish (November 1984)
* Francesco Zappa (November 1984)
* The Old Masters Box One (April 1985)
* Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention (November 21, 1985), US #153
* Does Humor Belong in Music? (January 1986)
* The Old Masters Box Two (November 1986)
* Jazz from Hell (November 1986)
* London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 2 (September 17, 1987)
* The Old Masters Box Three (December 1987)
* Guitar (April 1988)
* You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 (May 1988)
* You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (October 1988)
* Broadway the Hard Way (October 14, 1988)
* You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 (November 1989)
* The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (April 1991)
* You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4 (June 14, 1991)
* Make a Jazz Noise Here (June 1991)
* Beat the Boots (July 1991), 8 discs (boxed or separate):
o As an Am (recorded 1981 – 1982)
o The Ark (recorded 1969)
o Freaks & Motherfu*#@%! (recorded 1970)
o Unmitigated Audacity (recorded 1974)
o Anyway the Wind Blows (2 discs) (recorded 1979)
o 'Tis the Season to Be Jelly (recorded 1967)
o Saarbrucken 1978 (recorded 1978)
o Piquantique (recorded 1973)
* Beat the Boots II (June 1992), 8 discs (boxed only):
o Disconnected Synapses (recorded 1970)
o Tengo Na Minchia Tanta (recorded 1970)
o Electric Aunt Jemima (recorded 1968)
o At the Circus (recorded 1978)
o Swiss Cheese/Fire! (2 discs) (recorded 1971)
o Our Man in Nirvana (recorded 1968)
o Conceptual Continuity (recorded 1976)
* You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 (July 1992)
* You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 (July 1992)
* Playground Psychotics (October 1992)
* Ahead of Their Time (March 1993)
* The Yellow Shark (with Ensemble Modern) (November 1993), US #2 (Classical Crossover Chart)
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