Frank Vincent Zappa

 Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993)

His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity, and satire of American culture. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works, and produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock musicians of his era. Zappa was a highly productive and prolific artist with a controversial critical standing; supporters of his music admired its compositional complexity, while critics found it lacking emotional depth. He remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His honors include his 1995 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Though Zappa's work was widely appreciated by critics and attracted a loyal cult following, he was rarely a big commercial success. The most notable exception to this rule was the 1982 single "Valley Girl" recorded with his daughter Moon Unit Zappa, which touched off a nationwide linguistic craze whose impact is still being felt. In his later years, he turned to orchestral music, and his compositions were conducted by noted French composer Pierre Boulez. In the 1980s, he would also work against the imposition of warning stickers on music recordings, claiming they were tantamount to censorship.

In 1990, Zappa was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. The disease had been developing unnoticed for ten years and was considered inoperable. After the diagnosis, Zappa devoted most of his energy to modern orchestral and Synclavier works. Shortly before his death in 1993 he completed Civilization Phaze III, a major Synclavier work which he had begun in the 1980s. Zappa died from prostate cancer on December 4, 1993, 17 days before his 53rd birthday at his home with his wife and children by his side. He is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in an unmarked grave.