Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, singer and satirist.

1990s

In the early 1990s Zappa devoted almost all of his energy to modern orchestral and synclavier works. In 1990 he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, a disease which caused his death in 1993 at the age of 52. Although ill, in 1992 he appeared as a guest conductor with the Ensemble Modern in a series of concerts in Germany devoted to his compositions, recordings from which appeared on The Yellow Shark.

Related Topics:
1990s - Synclavier - 1990 - Prostate cancer - 1993 - 1992 - Ensemble Modern - The Yellow Shark

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During these years, he edited numerous CD collections of concert recordings made throughout his career. In 1993, he completed Civilization, Phaze III, a major synclavier work he had begun in the '80s. He stated in interviews that he was working on hundreds of synclavier pieces, most of which remained unfinished.

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Frank Zappa died on December 4, 1993 at 52, and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California. His grave is unmarked, although its location is known among fans.

Related Topics:
December 4 - 1993 - Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery - Westwood, California

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Zappa was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. That same year the only known cast of Zappa was installed in the center of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Zappa was immortalized by Konstantinas Bogdanas, the famous Lithuanian sculptor who had previously cast portraits of Vladimir Lenin. In 2002 a bronze bust was installed in a square in Bad Doberan, a small town in the north of Germany, where, since 1990, there has been an international Festival celebrating the music of Frank Zappa. Zappa received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

Related Topics:
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - 1995 - Vilnius - Lithuania - Konstantinas Bogdanas - Vladimir Lenin - Bad Doberan - Germany - Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award - 1997

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