Frank Zappa

He was a study in contradictions. He loved the hippie culture; but he was also a workaholic and a perfectionist. By his own admission he left home only to work. In a career that lasted less than 25 years he recorded more material than many artists who performed over twice as long.

Born on December 21, 1940 Frank Vincent Zappa was an early Christmas present to the family. Zappa was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He began his musical career playing the drums at age 12. He didn't pick the guitar until he was 18.

Joining a local band by the name of Soul Giants Zappa began his musical journey in earnest. The band changed their name to Mothers. When preparing to release their debut album the record label - Verve - insisted that the band add of Invention to the band's name. The debut was an indication of what was to come. In a rare move for debut releases by new bands Zappa and the Mother of Invention released a double album for their debut. Over the remainder of his career Frank Zappa released over 60 albums and left hundreds of recording tapes yet to be released when he died.

Zappa's music was a mixture of genres from twentieth century classical music like that of Stravinsky to jazz and rock. Never one to conform Zappa and his second wife Gail gave their four children some rather unusual names - Dweezil, Moon Unit, Ahmet, and Diva.

Zappa once stated that communism was doomed to fail because people liked to own things. Despite this Zappa and his music is very popular in the former communist countries of Eastern Europe. Czechoslavakian President Vaclav Havel named Frank Zappa the Cultural Liasion Officer. The capital city of Lithuania, Vilnius has the only statue of Zappa ever erected. The residents of Bad Doberan, Germany hold a festival each year dedicated to the life and music of Frank Zappa.

Frank Zappa was inducted in to the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1994 and with his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 Frank Zappa became the only artist to ever be inducted into both the Jazz and Rock Halls of Fame. Zappa has also received two Grammy Awards.

Despite his prolific composing, playing, and recording Frank Zappa has only two gold awards to his name; one for an album and one for a video. Gold albums are rewarded when an album sells 500,000 copies. The number is 100,000 for video releases.

In 1991 Frank Zappa was diagnosed with cancer. Until his death two years later Zappa continued to record. He died at home on December 4, 1993. The press release given by his family after his death simply stated, "Composer Frank Zappa left for his final tour just before 6pm on Saturday."