Figure timeline
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, songwriter, guitarist, conductor, actor, satirist, filmmaker, and activist. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he additionally produced nearly all the 60-plus albums he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His discography is charac…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · American musician (1940–1993) · guitarist · singer · composer · voice actor · rock musician · record producer · songwriter · screenwriter · actor · journalist · also Frank Zappa, Zappa
Born 21 December 1940 · Died 4 December 1993 · Q127330
214 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
14 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
“I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Drugs do not become a problem until the person who uses the drugs does something to you, or does something that would affect your life that you don”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“s compositions in his neo-classical period:”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“used to play with it all the time”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Ultimate Classic Rock: Frank Zappa’s 1966 Debut Is Getting a Massive 60th Anniversary Release
uDiscoverMusic: Celebrate 60 Years of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention’s ‘Freak Out!’
Published video “I'm So Happy I Could Cry (Demo)”.
Published video “How Could I Be Such A Fool? (1966 Mono Mix)”.
Published video “Motherly Love (Vocal Overdub Master Takes)”.
Published video “How Could I Be Such A Fool? (Demo)”.
Published video “Who Are The Brain Police? (1966 Mono Mix)”.
Published video “Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder (Demo)”.
Published video “I Could Be A Slave / Story Untold (Live)”.
Published video “Freak Chouflee' (Live)”.
Published video “FZ Directs The Freaks (Live)”.
Published video “A2 Jam (Live)”.
Yahoo: Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s One Size Fits All, five decades on
The Guardian: Earth to Moon by Moon Unit Zappa review – rock and a hard place
The Guardian: Earth to Moon by Moon Unit Zappa review – waspish, funny account of life as Frank Zappa’s daughter
Yahoo: Frank Zappa’s Strictly Commercial Breakthrough Album ‘Apostrophe (‘)’ Is Getting Even Bigger
Released album “Funky Nothingness”.
Snopes rated the claim “Rock musician Frank Zappa once said, “The biggest threat to America today is not communism, it’s moving America toward a fascist theocracy, and everything that’s happened during the Regan administration is steering us right down that pipe.”” Correct Attribution.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
Newsweek: New Frank Zappa Box Set Contains Audio of When He Was Almost Killed by Fan
The Guardian: Total Immersion: Frank Zappa review – a suitably eclectic day-long tribute
The Guardian: TV tonight: inside the world of prolific guitar virtuoso Frank Zappa
The Guardian: Zappa review – under the skin of the wild man of American rock
CNET: Frank Zappa is the perfect figure for the internet generation
The Guardian: 'He was a musical warlock': reflecting on Frank Zappa's greatest album at 50
The Guardian: 'From Abba to Zappa': Michael Putland's shots of rock royalty – in pictures
The Guardian: The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa review – toking poodles and holographic necromancy
loudwire: The Frank Zappa Hologram Has Arrived
Released album “The Crux of the Biscuit”.
Released album “Frank Zappa for President”.
Released album “ZAPPAtite (Frank Zappa’s Tastiest Tracks)”.
Dweezil Zappa explained a distinctive element of his father's guitar improvisation technique was relying heavily on upstrokes much more than many other guitarists, who are more likely to use downstrokes with their pickin
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Dance Me This”.
Released album “Perfect Strangers”.
Released album “Joe’s Camouflage”.
Ultimate Classic Rock: When Frank Zappa Looked Back With ‘You Can’t Do That On Stage’
Released album “Finer Moments”.
Released album “Understanding America”.
Released album “AAAFNRAAAAAM Birthday Bundle 21 Dec. 2011”.
Released album “Feeding the Monkies at Ma Maison”.
Released album “The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAAAA Birthday Bundle 21.Dec.2010”.
Released album ““Congress Shall Make No Law…””.
Released album “Greasy Love Songs”.
Released album “Beat the Boots! III Disc Three”.
Released album “Beat the Boots! III: Disc One”.
Released album “Beat the Boots! III Disc Two”.
Released album “The Lumpy Money Project/Object”.
Released album “The Frank Zappa aaa·fnr·aaa Birthday Bundle 21.Dec.2008”.
Released album “The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle”.
Released album “The MOFO Project/Object”.
Released album “Joe’s XMasage”.
Released album “The Best of Frank Zappa”.
Released album “Joe's Domage”.
That they cannot be separated: "It was all one; all part of his 'conceptual continuity'
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Joe’s Corsage”.
Released album “For Collectors Only”.
Released album “Threesome No. 1”.
Released album “Zappa Picks – By Larry LaLonde of Primus”.
Released album “Zappa Picks – By Jon Fishman of Phish”.
Released album “Threesome No. 2”.
Released album “Everything Is Healing Nicely”.
Released album “Son of Cheep Thrills”.
Released album “How’s Your Bird?”.
Released album “Cheap Thrills”.
Released album “Cucamonga Years: The Early Works of Frank Zappa (1962–1964)”.
Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Strictly Genteel: A Classical Introduction to Frank Zappa”.
Released album “Have I Offended Someone?”.
Released album “Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute”.
Released album “Läther”.
Released album “The Lost Episodes”.
Released album “Return of the Son of Kill Ugly Radio”.
That Läther was Zappa's original intention
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Läther was made out of four albums. Warners has released two of them already and they have two more that they”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Strictly Commercial: The Best of Frank Zappa”.
Awarded Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1995).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I & II”.
Released album “Kill Ugly Radio Some More”.
Released album “No Commercial Potential”.
Released album “Songs and Dances”.
Released album “Kill Ugly Radio”.
Released album “Original Recordings – Steve Vai – Arch. Vol. 2”.
Released album “Civilization Phaze III”.
Released album “Zappa / Lutosławski / Lupone / Pärt”.
Died 1993-12-04.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa died from prostate cancer at his home with his wife and children by his side
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“I've got a cheerleader hereWants to help with my paperLet her do all the workAnd maybe later I'll rape her. (ang.)”
“My solos are speech-influenced rhythmically; and harmonically, they're either pentatonic, or poly-scale oriented. And there's the mixolydian mode that I also use a lot...But I'm more interested in melodic things I think the biggest challenge when you go to play a solo is trying to invent a melody on the spot.”
“Opis: definiując dziennikarstwo muzyczne.”
“Tobacco is my favorite vegetable.”
“Kompozytor to człowiek, który, częstokroć z pomocą niczego nie podejrzewających muzyków, łazi i narzuca swą wolę niczego nie podejrzewającym cząsteczkom powietrza.”
“The essence of Christianity is told to us in the Garden of Eden history. The fruit that was forbidden was on the Tree of Knowledge. The subtext is, All the suffering you have is because you wanted to find out what was going on. You could be in the Garden of Eden if you had just kept your fucking mouth shut and hadn't asked any questions.”
“The rock and roll business is pretty absurd, but the world of serious music is much worse.”
“Jeśli coś ci się podoba, to jest genialne; jeśli się nie podoba, jest do dupy.”
“I'm a handsome son of a bitchI'm gonna get a good job and be real rich. (ang.)”
“I am gross and pervertedI'm obsessed and derangedI have existed for yearsBut very little has changed. (ang.)”
“A wise man once said, "never discuss philosophy or politics in a disco environment.”
“Funciona assim: Pegue qualquer melodia seja elaqual for, Beethoven ou musica Havaiana, toque na guitarra, adicione baixo e bateria e as pessoas chamarão de rock´n roll.”
“Well I think that progress is not possible without deviation. And I think that it's important that people be aware of some of the creative ways in which some of their fellow men are deviating from the norm, because in some instances they might find these deviations inspiring and might suggest further deviations which might cause progress, you never know.”
“Ja jestem człowiekiem rodzinnym. Kocham moją rodzinę. Moja rodzina to podstawa mojego społeczeństwa. Mówi się, że jestem dziwakiem, odmieńcem, ale żadne z moich dzieci nie bierze narkotyków, żadne nie było aresztowane przez policję, żadne nie popełniało samobójstwa, nie uciekało z domu… Ilu z tych konserwatywnych rodziców może tak powiedzieć o swoich dzieciach?”
“To me, absurdity is the only reality.”
“I'm probably more famous for sitting on the toilet than for anything else that I do.”
“Istota chrześcijaństwa jest wypowiedziana w historii kuszenia Adama w Raju. Owoc zakazany był na drzewie wiedzy. Podtekst tego jest taki, że powodem wszystkiego naszego cierpienia jest to, że chcieliśmy dowiedzieć się co tak naprawdę się dzieje. Moglibyśmy wciąż być w Raju jeśli tylko trzymalibyśmy nasze pierdolone gęby zamknięte na kłódkę i nie zadawali żadnych pytań.”
“Every socialistic type of government… produces bad art, produces social inertia, produces really unhappy people, and it's more repressive than any other kind of government.”
“I don't give a fuck if they remember me at all.”
“Informacja nie jest wiedzą, wiedza nie jest mądrością, mądrość nie jest prawdą, prawda nie jest pięknem, piękno nie jest miłością, miłość nie jest muzyką. Muzyka jest najlepsza.”
“Being interviewed is one of the most abnormal things that you can do to somebody else. It's two steps removed from the Inquisition.”
“I think it's really tragic when people get serious about stuff. It's such an absurdity to take anything really seriously … I make an honest attempt not to take anything seriously: I worked that attitude out about the time I was eighteen, I mean, what does it all mean when you get right down to it, what's the story here? Being alive is so weird.”
“Hey there, people, I'm Bobby BrownThey say I'm the cutest boy in townMy car is fast, my teeth are shinyI tell all the girls they can kiss my heine. (ang.)”
“Remember there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.”
“Classical musicians go to the conservatories, rock´n roll musicians go to the garages.”
“I consider that the building materials are exactly the same as what anybody else makes the thing out of. It's just the way they look at those materials is perhaps a narrower perspective. Time and those waves are at the disposal of anyone who wants to use them.”
“Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read.”
After the artist's death, Zappa was hailed as a genius by conductor Kent Nagano and nominated by Czechoslovak President Václav Havel to the country's cultural ambassadorship; however, in his lifetime, Zappa was rejected
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Completed Civilization Phaze III, a major Synclavier work that he had begun in the 1980s
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And quickly returned to the Zappa estate
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Swiss Cheese / Fire!”.
Released album “Beat the Boots!”.
In Prague, claiming that "was the first time that he had a reason to play his guitar in 3 years", and that that moment was just "the beginning of a new country", and asked the public to "try to keep your country unique,
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa was chosen to be one of four featured composers at the Frankfurt Festival in 1992 (the others were John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Alexander Knaifel)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Assured the four children would receive equal shares, but this was altered by Gail sometime after Frank's death
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
It was subsequently found that Frank and Francesco were not actually related, which Frank confirmed in The Real Frank Zappa Book in 1989.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa considered his idea a "miserable flop"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Los Angeles Times quoted a Warner representative saying that these releases "consistently sold hundreds of thousands of units, which wasn't huge, but it was substantial
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In Albany, New York and ended on June 6 in Genoa, Italy
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “The Man From Utopia / Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch”.
Released album “Cucamonga”.
And a third, Trance-Fusion, which Zappa completed shortly before his death, was released in 2006
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. II”.
Released album “Joe’s Garage: Acts I, II & III”.
Released album “Blood on the Canvas”.
Released album “The Old Masters, Box Three”.
All three acts were reissued together as a 3-LP and 2-CD set
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Jazz From Hell”.
Released album “The Old Masters, Box Two”.
Released album “Apostrophe (’) / Over‐Nite Sensation”.
Released album “The London Symphony Orchestra”.
Earned Zappa his first Grammy Award in 1988 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention”.
Zappa testified before the United States Senate Commerce, Technology, and Transportation committee, attacking the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), an organization co-founded by Tipper Gore, wife of then-senator Al G
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gail began managing much of the Zappa business empire, which included a record label, a mail-order company, a video company and a music publishing firm
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Mystery Disc”.
Released album “The Old Masters, Box One Sampler”.
Released album “The Old Masters, Box One”.
Released album “We’re Only in It for the Money / Lumpy Gravy”.
Released album “Francesco Zappa”.
Released album “Them or Us”.
Released album “Boulez Conducts Zappa: The Perfect Stranger”.
Released album “Thing‐Fish”.
Zappa teamed again with Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra for a live performance of A Zappa Affair with augmented orchestra, life-size puppets, and moving stage sets
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I”.
Zappa began using the Synclavier, an early digital synthesizer which over time became his primary compositional and performance tool
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “The Man From Utopia”.
Released album “Rare Meat”.
Released album “Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch”.
Released album “You Are What You Is”.
Released album “Shut Up ’n Play Yer Guitar Some More”.
Zappa also released three instrumental albums, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More, and The Return of the Son of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar, which were initially sold via mail order, but late
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Shut Up ’n Play Yer Guitar”.
Released album “Return of the Son of Shut Up ’n Play Yer Guitar”.
Biographer David Walley noted that "The whole structure of his music is unified, not neatly divided by dates or time sequences and it is all building into a composite"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And again in 1996 after Zappa's death
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Joe’s Garage: Acts II & III”.
Released album “Joe’s Garage: Act I”.
Released album “Orchestral Favorites”.
Released album “Sheik Yerbouti”.
Released album “Sleep Dirt”.
Released album “Studio Tan”.
And Sleep Dirt and Orchestral Favorites in 1979
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa served both as host and musical act on the show
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Zoot Allures”.
Zappa produced the album Good Singin', Good Playin' for Grand Funk Railroad
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recordings of which appear on Zappa in New York and Läther
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “One Size Fits All”.
Released album “Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention”.
Lost a lawsuit against the Royal Albert Hall for breach of contract
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Apostrophe (’)”.
Opined that Zappa was "very interesting as a human being and a very interesting composer" and that he "was a very good musician but he was a dictator in his band," and that he "was taking very long guitar solos [when per
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Dolf Hartmann präsentiert Die Frank Zappa Story”.
Released album “Waka/Jawaka”.
Zappa released two strongly jazz-oriented solo LPs, Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo, which were recorded during the forced layoff from concert touring, using floating lineups of session players and Mothers alumni
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa suffered his first of two serious setbacks
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Pop History”.
Released album “Pop History, Vol. 7”.
Released album “Chunga’s Revenge”.
Zappa formed a new version of the Mothers (from then on, he mostly dropped the "of Invention")
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa met conductor Zubin Mehta
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Hot Rats”.
Released album “Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention”.
There were nine band members and Zappa was supporting the group from his publishing royalties whether they played or not
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“s concerts, audiences were confused. Zappa felt that audiences failed to appreciate his”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Released album “Lumpy Gravy”.
Had four children and remained together until Zappa's death
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa increasingly used tape editing as a compositional tool
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And 1968, Zappa made two appearances with the Monkees
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Filmmaker Ed Seeman paid Zappa $2,000 to produce music for a Luden's cough drops television commercial
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
While Zappa formed the Mothers of Invention, Beefheart assembled Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Mothers were also rejected by Columbia Records for having "no commercial potential", a verdict Zappa subsequently quoted on the sleeve of Freak Out
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
After his marriage started to break up, he moved into the Pal studio and began routinely working 12 hours or more per day recording and experimenting with overdubbing and audio tape manipulation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
To stage a concert of his orchestral music and to broadcast and record it
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The pair recorded a demo at the Pal Recording Studio in Cucamonga as the Soots, seeking support from a major label
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
After the film was completed, but it was commissioned by one of Zappa's former high school teachers in 1959 and Zappa may have worked on it before the film was shot
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zappa was married to Kathryn J. "Kay" Sherman from 1960 to 1963.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And moved into a small apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Attended Chaffey College but left after one semester, and maintained thereafter a disdain for formal education, taking his children out of school at age 15 and refusing to pay for their college
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
And later acknowledged two of his music teachers on the sleeve of the 1966 album Freak Out
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The things that were happening in 1955 were cosmic … in terms of music history.”
His family relocated for health reasons to Monterey, California, where his father taught metallurgy at the Naval Postgraduate School
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1940-12-21.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
In Baltimore, Maryland, to Rose Marie (née Colimore) and Francis Vincent Zappa
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Connections