Despite his relatively short life, Frank Zappa had quite the run as a musician. In his lifetime, he shared 62 albums. His estate has since shared 64 albums posthumously, making a grand total of 126 Zappa releases. Call him what you want, but you could never call him idle.
Videos by American Songwriter
Since his death in 1993 at 52, his family has been tasked with upholding his mammoth legacy. As it turns out, it’s not such an easy cross to bear.
[RELATED: Top 5 Musical Dynasties]
Complicated Legacy
All of Zappa’s children – Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva – have followed in their father’s footsteps, in varying degrees. At any rate, all of the Zappa kids have chosen to become artists whether that means acting, writing, or musicianship.
While their musical contributions alone would be enough to keep the family name alive, they (along with Zappa’s widow, Gail) have been charged with handling Zappa’s estate. The family fell into a years-long debate after the estate wasn’t divided up equally between the four heirs.
When Gail died in 2015, it was revealed that she decided Ahmet and Diva would each receive 30 percent of the estate while Dweezil and Moon would get 20 percent each. It was a blow to the latter two siblings who felt they were due the same amount of stake in the estate.
“I was completely blindsided,” Moon once said. “For a whole year, I was taking care of my mother – bringing her green juice and driving her to her doctor appointments. How do you look someone in the eye and say, ‘Thank you for the foot rub’ and be plotting against that human? It’s unconscionable.”
The fight between the four siblings went beyond just residual profits from Zappa’s catalog. One of the biggest points of contention came from Dweezil’s band, Zappa Plays Zappa. Because he wasn’t a majority shareholder in the Zappa estate, he had to have permission from his siblings to play his dad’s music and sell merch with any mention of him. When he couldn’t come to terms with his brother and sister, he decided to stop carrying Zappa-related merch entirely.
Later, Dweezil received a cease and desist on using the name Zappa Plays Zappa. In response, he named his tour 50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants – The Cease and Desist Tour.
They spent several years in legal combat with one another until last year, when all four of them decided to pass off the rights to Universal Music Group. UMG now owns Zappa’s music, likeness, and material from the vault.
“Ten years ago, Gail Zappa partnered with UMe to bring Frank Zappa’s music into the digital era and help expand the Frank Zappa business around the world, setting in motion a fruitful partnership that has resulted in exponential growth,” said The Zappa Trust in a statement at the time.
“UMG have more than proven their passion for Frank’s art and so the entire Zappa family is thrilled to pass the baton to the new forever stewards for all things Frank Zappa,” the statement continued.
(Photo By Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
