Key Events In Zappa's Life

1940
• born to Italian-American parents in Baltimore, Maryland on December 21

1951
• family moves to Monterey, California in January

1953
• learns rudiments of percussion in summer school course taught in Pacific Grove
• family relocates to Southern California

1954
• buys first record, The Complete Works Of Edgard Varese, Vol 1 [Varese's music becomes a major, life-long influence on Zappa]

1955
• hears rhythm and blues records on the radio [R&B becomes Zappa's other major influence]

1957
• assumes ownership of brother Carl's beat-up guitar late that year

1958
• graduates from high school in June [with 20 credits less than the required amount]

1959
• on recommendation of his former high school English teacher, writes score for low-budget western called Run Home Slow [finally paid $2000 for his work in 1963]
• marries Kay Sherman

1961
• writes score for second low-budget film, The World's Greatest Sinner, in June [recorded by a rock band, chamber ensemble and symphony orchestra in November and December of that same year]

1962
• first single on which he plays guitar released, Break Time

1964
• divorces Kay Sherman
• assumes lease of a small recording studio in Cucamonga in August [it is here at "Studio Z" that Frank first begins to perfect his recording techniques]
• spends ten days in the San Bernadino County jail following entrapment by local vice squad on "conspiracy to commit pornography" charges
• invited to play lead guitar for Soul Giants, a band that soon becomes The Mothers

1965
• Mothers signed by MGM

1966
• first album, Freak Out, released in July

1967
• marries Gail Sloatman in August [a union that lasts until his death]
• first child, Moon Unit, born later that same month

1969
• works on his first movie, Uncle Meat, which is never completely finished
• second child, Dweezil, born late in year

1971
• sues British Royal Crown for breach of contract [unsuccessfully] after Albert Hall abruptly cancels premiere performance of 200 Motels in February
• 200 Motels, movie and soundtrack album, released in October
• pushed from stage by crazed fan in December [Zappa sustains serious injuries including a broken rib, a fractured leg and a crushed larynx]

1974
• one of his biggest-selling albums, Apostrophe, released in March
• third child, Ahmet Rodan, born in May

1979
• best-selling album, Sheik Yerbouti, released in March
• fourth child, Diva, born in August

1981
• introduces "A Tribute To Edgard Varese" at New York's Palladium in April

1982
• Valley Girl [featuring daughter Moon], from the album Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch, becomes a hit single in June

1984
• only album not to feature Zappa's own music, Francesco Zappa, released in November [electronic realizations of the obscure eighteen century composer's string trios]

1985
• testifies before Senate subcommittee concerning record labeling in September

1987
• Jazz From Hell receives Grammy for "best instrumental rock album"

1988
• Broadway The Hard Way tour ends prematurely in June following serious squabbling amongst band members [Zappa loses $400,000 in the process]

1989
• autobiography published: The Real Frank Zappa Book

1990
• visits Soviet Union as a correspondent for the Financial News Network in January
• the same month is asked by President Vaclav Havel of Czechoslovakia to serve as that country's "cultural liaison officer" [under pressure from U.S. officials, the offer is subsequently withdrawn]

1991
• in April, announces that he is considering a run for the U.S. presidency in 1992
• in November, Zappa family confirms that Frank has been stricken with prostate cancer

1992
• The Yellow Shark is performed and recorded at Germany's Frankfurt Festival in September [although very ill, Zappa manages to conduct three of the pieces]

1993
• dies at home of complications surrounding prostate cancer on December 4