Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa was born on December 21, 1940, and died on December 4, 1993(aged 52). His Star sign is Sagittarius. Frank Vincent Zappa was a musician, composer, and guitarist, who later, became an actor and filmmaker. He was born in Baltimore in U.S. He has been part of almost 60 plus albums. Zappa has directed some feature-length films and music videos. He also designed his album covers. Zappa’s main works included jazz, pop, rock, jazz fusion, and orchestral. Frank belonged to an American-Italian household. His mother, Rosemarie (nėe Collymore) was of Italian and French ancestry whereas his father, Francis Vincent Zappa, was Greek and Arab. He had three siblings among whom he was the eldest. Zappa was married to Kathryn J in 1960, but the marriage lasted only till 1963. He married Adelaide Gail Sloatman in 1967.

He had four children with his second wife: Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. Frank joined his first band as the drummer at Mission Bay High School in San Diego. His interest in music started developing when his parents bought a phonograph. He got influenced by avant-garde composers and modern jazz. When in Antelope Valley High School, he began playing drums in a local band, the Blackouts, where his interest in guitar grew. In his last years in high-school, Zappa's interest in composing flourished. In 1959, he attended Chaffey College but left after the first semester. During the early 1960s, Zappa did a lot of recordings and wrote and produced songs for local artists. To financially support himself he performed in the local bars. In 1965, he became the guitarist in the local R&B band, which was later renamed as Mothers.

In early 1966, the Mothers were signed by Tom Wilson to the Verve division of MGM and officially got renamed as "The Mothers of Invention," and with that, they gave a groundbreaking debut album "Freak Out". In late 1966, they played in New York Click to look into! >> Read More... and were offered a contract. So they moved to New York. Then later, Zappa started producing all the albums released by The Mothers of Invention. In 1969, Zappa broke up with the band and after that released his solo album "Hot Reds." In 1970 Zappa met conductor Zubin Mehta and arranged a concert in Los Angeles. Even though the concert was a success, Zappa was dissatisfied. In later 1970, Zappa formed a new band, ”The Mothers,” and launched it on the day he released his next solo album "Chunga's Revenge," followed by the movie "200 Motels", which featured the Mothers, which was co-directed by Zappa.

After completion of 200 Motels, the band went on tour. In 1972, while performing, Zappa was attacked which resulted in a half year long break from working. Later in the 1970s, he released two most successful albums of his career, "Joe's Garage" and "Sheik Yerbouti." In 1979, Zappa's movie Baby Snakes was released in New York. His career went well throughout his lifetime. In 1990, Zappa was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died after almost four years (in 1994) of struggle with his sickness. During Zappa's lifetime, he was a highly constructive artist. His honors include his name in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame(1995) and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award(1997). Years after his death, in 2011, he was ranked 22 on the list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Times" and in 2004 at number 71 on the list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time All Time" by Rolling Stones magazine.