Frank Vincent Zappa December 21 1940 December 4 1993 was an American composer singersongwriter 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 featurelength 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 percussionbased avantgarde 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 selftaught 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 studiogenerated 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 whichoften humorouslyreflected 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 selfeducation 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 Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Zappa licensed under CCBYSAfull list of contributors on Wikipedia
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