Frank Zappa is a famous American guitarist, composer and songwriter. During his long career, he acted as a producer and even directed short films and videos as a director.
Biography
The talented musician was born in Baltimore, USA at the end of 1940, on December 21. Frank's parents were from Italy, so the boy grew up in an Italian-American environment, where the majority spoke Italian. The boy's father worked as a chemist at one of the country's defense plants. Due to the close proximity of the enterprise, there were always chemical protection products in the house, this had such an impact on little Frank that later he began to often use these symbols in his work.
Zappa got his first musical experience at the San Diego High School. He joined the local ensemble as a drummer. Later he became interested in the work of already well-known bands and began to collect musical records. After leaving school, Frank began to dislike standard forms of education. He didn’t go to college for a year. Having abandoned his studies, he moved away from his parents to a small apartment. At first, he tried to earn money by writing songs for local small groups.
Career
The album Freak out! Became a full-fledged debut for Frank! which he recorded with The Mothers of Invention in 1966. The record was recognized as one of the first thoughtful works with a concept, and the album also became one of the first double albums in the history of music recording. Zappa's next work was released two years later. The new project was very different from the debut, Frank experimented a lot with the sound. That is why most of his works can hardly be attributed to any particular genre of music.
In 1970 he hosted one of the first concerts of rock bands and a symphony orchestra. In the same year, he released another album, completely different from the previous compositions. The following year, Frank began recording his own film "200 Motels", which told about his life and participation in various musical groups of the time. Famous musicians of that time with whom there was a conflict of interest took part in the work. He later moved on to the level of litigation, which Zappa eventually won.
From that moment on, he decided to take up solo work. He became more active in cinema, starred in short films, dubbed foreign films in English, and also took part in the voice acting. Without giving up musical creativity, he recorded several new albums, and in 1986 he picked up all the old vinyls and began to reissue them. By the end of the 90s, during concerts, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Due to poor health, some of the performances had to be canceled. The disease progressed, and eventually the talented musician was forced to completely stop performing.
Personal life and death
During his life, Frank was married twice. The first alliance with Catherine Jay Sheiman lasted four years (1960-1964). Zappa's next choice was Adelaide Gail Sloatman, whom he married in 1967 and lived with her until his death.
At the age of 52, in 1993, a little over two weeks before his next birthday, on December 4, Frank Zappa quietly passed away surrounded by a loving family.
