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Dweezil Zappa (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa, September 5, 1969) is an American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Zappa developed a strong affinity for playing the guitar and producing music. Able to learn directly from guitarists such as
Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...
and
Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...
, Zappa released his first single (produced by Eddie Van Halen) at the age of 12. In addition to writing and recording his own music, Zappa has carried on the legacy of his father's music by touring with the group
Zappa Plays Zappa Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the elder son of late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa. History The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Cana ...
. The band features renditions of Zappa's original material and the lineup has often included Zappa alumni such as
Napoleon Murphy Brock Napoleon Murphy Brock (born April 23, 1943) is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums '' Apostrophe (')'', '' Roxy & Elsewhere'', '' One Size Fits All ...
,
Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...
,
Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missi ...
and others.


Early life

Dweezil Zappa was born on September 5, 1969, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California, to
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
and Gail Zappa.
Snippet view page 245
He is the second of four siblings: his older sister,
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, younger sister
Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...
and younger brother
Ahmet Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English language, English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root (Ḥ-M-D, ḥ-m-d), f ...
, and is the cousin of actress Lala Sloatman. Zappa's father was of Sicilian, Greek, Arab, and French descent, and his mother was of German and Portuguese ancestry. Dweezil's registered birth name was Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa. The nurse at the
hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...
at which he was born refused to register him under the name Dweezil, to the point of arguing with Gail in the delivery room about it. Rattled at this turn of events, Frank rapidly listed the names of several musician friends, and the nurse added all of them to the birth certificate. "Dweezil" was a nickname coined by Frank for a funny-looking pinky toe of Gail's. At the age of five years, Dweezil learned that his legal name was different, and he insisted on having his nickname become his legal name. Gail and Frank hired an attorney and soon the name Dweezil was official.


Career

In the 1980s, Zappa worked as an
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
VJ and was promptly fired after badmouthing MTV on ''
The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...
''. He also recorded some solo albums, as well as playing for other artists. Zappa can be heard playing lead guitar on
the Fat Boys The Fat Boys were an American hip-hop trio from Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, who emerged in the early 1980s. The group was briefly known originally as the Disco 3, originally composed of Mark "Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon Wimbley, ...
' "Wipe Out" (1987) and can be seen in the music video for
Don Johnson Don Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series '' Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...
's top 40 song, "Heartbeat". He also played co-lead guitar (along with
Reb Beach Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. (born August 31, 1963) is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake. Career After graduating from Fox Chapel Area High School and attending Berklee College of Music in the ea ...
) on Winger's cover of
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
's "
Purple Haze "Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967, in the United Kingdom. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord a ...
". He also had a minor part in the futuristic
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
film '' The Running Man'' as Stevie ("Don't touch that dial!"), and gave his most famous cameo role in
John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...
's Brat Pack film, ''
Pretty in Pink ''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. The film stars Molly Ringwald, alongside Harry Dean Stanton, Jon Cryer, Annie Potts, James Spader, a ...
,'' as Andie's friend, Simon. Since the 1990s, Zappa has been working on a piece of music named "What the Hell Was I Thinking?", a 75-minute piece featuring guitar solos by dozens of famous guitar players. The project has suffered from numerous difficulties and has been reworked several times since the '90s. Zappa said in September 2004: "I started recording it on analog tape almost 13 years ago... There are probably about 35 guest guitar players on it, everybody from
Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
to
Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...
, Eric Johnson,
Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...
and
Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was a member of AC ...
—it's quite a crazy project. I'm still waiting and hoping to record
Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...
and
Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
as some of my final guests on there." For his 1991 album ''Confessions'', Zappa recorded a cover of
the Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...
' "
Stayin' Alive "Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in December 1977 by RSO Records as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtr ...
" which featured vocals by
Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
. However, due to Osbourne's label refusing to allow the feature, the vocals were re-recorded by
Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...
, who was signed to the same label as Zappa. The version with Osbourne's vocals later appeared on Osbourne's box set '' Prince of Darkness''. In the mid-1990s, Zappa voiced the character Ajax Duckman on the animated series ''
Duckman ''Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man'', commonly known simply as ''Duckman'', is an American adult animated sitcom created and developed by Everett Peck, based on the characters he created in his 1990 one-shot comic book published by Dark Horse Com ...
''. He also briefly appeared in the television sitcom ''
Normal Life ''Normal Life'' is a 1996 American Crime film, crime drama film based on the real lives of husband-and-wife bank robbers, Jeffrey and Jill Erickson. The film stars Ashley Judd and Luke Perry and was directed by John McNaughton. The original scr ...
'' with sister Moon Unit Zappa and former ''
Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...
'' star
Cindy Williams Cynthia Jane Williams (August 22, 1947 – January 25, 2023) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcoms ''Happy Days'' (1975–1979), and ''Laverne & Shirley'' (1976–1982). She a ...
. He composed and performed the theme music for '' The Ben Stiller Show'' (the solo from Spinal Tap's "Break Like the Wind"). In 1998, Zappa played music agent John Kaplan in the
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
family comedy '' Jack Frost''. In 1999, Dweezil, alongside his brother,
Ahmet Zappa Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa (born May 15, 1974) is an American musician, writer, actor and trustee of the Zappa Family Trust. Early life Ahmet Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the third of four children born to musician Frank Zappa and ...
, starred in a show featuring celebrities, bands and dance troupe called ''
Happy Hour Happy hour is a marketing term for a time when a venue such as a restaurant or bar offers reduced prices on alcoholic drinks. Discounted menu items like appetizers are often served during happy hour. This is a way for bars and restaurants to ...
'' which debuted April 3, 1999, on the
USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
. The show lasted for one season despite its success due to a
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
dispute over the title of the show. To promote the show, he and Ahmet appeared briefly on the
World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
's Rage Party, held the night prior to
WrestleMania XV WrestleMania XV was a 1999 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 15th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 28, 1999, at the First Union Center in Philadelp ...
. In
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
's 2003 eleventh studio album '' Poodle Hat'', Zappa performs the opening guitar solo and sings on the track, " Genius in France". In 2006, Zappa organized the "
Zappa Plays Zappa Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the elder son of late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa. History The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Cana ...
" tour. He assembled a band of young musicians with a view to bring the music of
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
to a younger audience. The tour also featured guest appearances by
Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...
,
Napoleon Murphy Brock Napoleon Murphy Brock (born April 23, 1943) is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums '' Apostrophe (')'', '' Roxy & Elsewhere'', '' One Size Fits All ...
and
Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missi ...
. The tour began in Europe in May with dates in the U.S. from June. After a break it continued in the U.S. on October 18, 2006. The 2007 version of the tour ran from July, finishing in Australia in early December, and featured
Ray White Ray Shirley White Sr. is an African Americans, African American soul music, soul vocalist and rock and blues guitarist, best known as a member of Frank Zappa's touring ensembles. He was drafted into Zappa's band in late 1976, being feature ...
as special guest. The shows ended with the promise: "There are so many songs we want to learn to play ... see y'all next year...", and further tours have followed each year since 2007. In 2009, Ray White left Zappa Plays Zappa for an undisclosed reason. Zappa lent his voice to one of the characters in one episode of ''
Metalocalypse ''Metalocalypse'' is an American Musical film, musical adult animated television series created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha for Adult Swim. It premiered on August 6, 2006. The television program centers on the larger-than-life melodic deat ...
'' on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
. In 2016, Zappa went on tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Frank Zappa's album ''
Freak Out! ''Freak Out!'' is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on June 27, 1966, by Verve Records. Often cited as one of rock music's first concept albums, it is a satirical expression of guitarist/bandle ...
'' The tour was titled "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants – The Cease and Desist Tour". The tour title was inspired by Zappa's feud with his brother Ahmet over the use of the "Zappa Plays Zappa" moniker, which resulted in Ahmet sending Zappa a cease-and-desist letter through the family trust.


Personal life

In the 1980s, Zappa dated actresses
Molly Ringwald Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and translator. She began her career as a child actress on the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and '' The Facts of Life'' (both 1979–1980) before being nominated for ...
and
Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...
, and journalist
Katie Wagner Katharine "Katie" Wagner (born May 11, 1964) is an American television personality and Hollywood reporter. She is best known for her 2000–2004 stint as the hostess for TV Guide Channel. Early life Wagner was born in Los Angeles, California. ...
. From 1998 to 2004, Zappa dated musician
Lisa Loeb Lisa Anne Loeb (; born March 11, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author and actress. She started her career with " Stay (I Missed You)" from the film '' Reality Bites'', the first number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...
. Zappa and Loeb wrote and performed music together, and Zappa toured with Loeb's band. The couple co-hosted the cooking show '' Dweezil & Lisa'' on
Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...
in 2004. Zappa married fashion stylist Lauren Knudsen on September 3, 2005, in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. They have two daughters: Zola Frank Zappa (b. 2006) and Ceylon Indira Zappa (b. 2008). In March 2010 Knudsen filed for divorce in L.A. County Superior Court. According to the documents, she applied to share legal custody of their two daughters. In March 2012, with the divorce case still unresolved, Zappa's former lawyer made a public issue of his unpaid legal bills. Following the death of Zappa's mother, Gail, in October 2015, it was revealed that his siblings Ahmet and Diva were given control of the Zappa Family Trust with shares of 30% each, while Dweezil and his sister Moon were given smaller shares of 20% each. As beneficiaries only, Moon and Dweezil will not receive any distributions from the trust until it is profitable—in 2016, it was "millions of dollars in debt"—and must seek permission from Ahmet, the
trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...
, to make money off of their father's music or merchandise bearing his name. Dweezil received a
cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the oth ...
letter from the trust after he announced that he was being forced to perform his upcoming tour as "Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa" instead of using "Zappa Plays Zappa". In response to the trust's action, he renamed his performance series "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants—the Cease and Desist Tour". In May 2018, the four siblings announced that they had reconciled. But as of August 2024, Dweezil was no longer speaking with his siblings.


Musical equipment


Guitars

*
Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961, following on from the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. SG stands for "solid guitar". Origins The S ...
– made of walnut, the main guitar on the ''F. O. H.'' album of Zappa Plays Zappa *
Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...
– 1958 reissue, wired like
Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...
's. Dweezil currently owns & plays the Les Paul Custom his father played between 1980-1982 and was featured on the cover of Shut Up n' Play Yer Guitar. * Gibson Roxy SG – a replica of a guitar played by Frank Zappa on tour and in the studio during the '60s and '70s, the original Roxy SG can be seen depicted on the '' Roxy and Elsewhere'' album cover. Gibson produced a limited run of 400 Roxy SGs, featuring custom electronics and Maestro vibrola tail piece. Zappa has used his own Roxy during Zappa Plays Zappa tours. Dweezil also owns & uses the original Roxy SG. *
Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...
- On previous Zappa Plays Zappa tours, Dweezil used stock Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocasters. At one point, Dweezil owned a Strat previously used by Jimi Hendrix and given to Frank *Shabat Lynx DZ - Th Lynx DZ is Dweezil’s heavily modded Shabat Lynx model, including his body-mounted HSS configuration with a push/pull phase shift on the middle pickup, simplified single-knob layout, custom-cut 3-ply parchment/gold pickguard, and fitted with a Vega-Trem VT1 tremolo. The Shabat Lynx DZ was regularly used on his 2024 "Rox(Postroph)Y Return of the Son of..." tour.


Amplifiers

* Fractal Audio Axe-FX 2 * Fractal Audio Axe-FX III


Discography


Solo

*1982 – " My Mother Is a Space Cadet"/"Crunchy Water", 12" single *1986 – '' Havin' a Bad Day'' *1988 – '' My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama'' *1991 – '' Confessions'' *2000 – ''
Automatic Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...
'' *2006 – ''Go with What You Know'' *2015 – ''Via Zammata *2024 - ''Double Nickels''


With Ahmet Zappa

*1993 – '' Shampoohorn'' *1996 – '' Music for Pets''


With Zappa Plays Zappa

*2008 – ''
Zappa Plays Zappa Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the elder son of late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa. History The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Cana ...
'' *2010 – ''Return of the Son of...'' *2011 – ''In the Moment'' *2012 – ''F.O.H.'' *2012 – ''F.O.H. III: Out of Obscurity'' *2017 – ''Live In The Moment II''


Guest appearances

*1984 – Guitar solos "Sharleena" and "Stevie's Spanking" on Frank Zappa's '' Them or Us'' *1984 – Guitar on Frank Zappa's '' You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3'' (album) on "Sharleena" *1985 – Vocals on Frank Zappa's '' Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention'' *1986 – Guitar solo on "Whipping Post" on Frank Zappa's '' Does Humor Belong in Music?'' *1986 – Guitar solo on Don Johnson's song "The Last Sound Love Makes" and appearance in the video for "Heartbeat" *1988 – '' Winger'' on " Seventeen" and "
Purple Haze "Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967, in the United Kingdom. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord a ...
" *1989 – With sister Moon Unit, contributed the track "(In Love) With You Gumby" to the novelty album ''
Gumby Gumby and Pokey figures ''Gumby'' is an American cartoon character and associated media franchise created by Art Clokey. He is a blocky green humanoid made of clay. Gumby stars in two television series, '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other medi ...
'' *1990 – Opening and outro solos on Extreme's ''
Pornograffitti ''Extreme II: Pornograffitti'' (also known as simply ''Pornograffitti'') is the second studio album by the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Extreme (band), Extreme, released on August 7, 1990, through A&M Records. The album title is a portm ...
'' on the song "He-Man Woman Hater" *1992 – Lead guitar on "Diva Fever" on Spinal Tap's '' Break Like the Wind'' *1993 – Lead guitar on "Dirty Love" and "Chunga's Revenge" on '' Zappa's Universe'' tribute *1994 – Co-lead guitar on "Chewing on Crayons"" on
Blues Saraceno Blues Saraceno (born October 17, 1971) is an American rock guitarist, composer and music producer, currently residing in Los Angeles, California. He was discovered by ''Guitar for the Practicing Musician'' magazine at the age of 16, which assis ...
's Hairpick *1994 – Barks on the track "Waffenspiel" on Frank Zappa's ''
Civilization Phaze III ''Civilization Phaze III'' is the sixty-third album by Frank Zappa, released posthumously as a double album on October 31, 1994. It was the first studio album of new material from Zappa since 1986's ''Jazz from Hell''. The album marks the third p ...
'' *1997 – Guitar solo on
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...
's cover of "
Smoke on the Water "Smoke on the Water" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, released on their 1972 studio album '' Machine Head''. The song's lyrics are based on true events, chronicling the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland. It is ...
" (the '' No More Mr. Nice Guy'' album) *1997 – Guitar on the song "Quando M'en Vo" from
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
, in the musical project "Angelica" *2000 – Guitar on
Dixie Dregs Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band is known for instrumental music that fuses elements of rock, classical music, country music, country, jazz and bluegrass music, bluegrass into an eclectic sou ...
's ''California Screamin'' CD performing "
Peaches en Regalia "Peaches en Regalia" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by Frank Zappa. It was initially released on Zappa's album ''Hot Rats'' in 1969 and has been recorded many times since. Other versions Years later, in 1987, the piece was released ...
" *2001 – Guitar on
Kip Winger Charles Frederick "Kip" Winger (born June 21, 1961) is an American singer and bassist who is active as a member of the rock band Winger (band), Winger and as a solo artist. He initially gained notability as a member of Alice Cooper's band, contr ...
's solo album '' Songs from the Ocean Floor'' *2001 – Bumblefoot's album '' 9.11'', on "Top of the World" *2003 –
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
's '' Poodle Hat'' album, on " Genius in France" *2004 – Lead guitar on "Time Heals" on
Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...
's "Hello, It's Me And My Friends" *2005 – Guitar on "Surf Punks" on the soundtrack to the game " Conker: Live & Reloaded" *2006 – Lead guitar on "Chunga's Revenge" and "Bavarian Sunset" on Frank Zappa's ''
Trance-Fusion ''Trance-Fusion'' is an album by Frank Zappa. Released posthumously in 2006, 13 years after the musician's death, the album forms the third in a trilogy of instrumental albums which focus on Zappa's improvised guitar solos, after '' Shut Up 'n Pl ...
'' *2011 – Electric guitar on "Gypsy Flee" from "A Kiss Before You Go" album By Norwegian band Katzenjammer *2011 – Solo guitar on "Release the Memes" from ''Centrifugal Satz Clock: Morning'', by Steve Kusaba *2013 – Solo guitar on "Mind Your Step" from '' Freak Guitar: The Smorgasbord'', by Mattias IA Eklundh *2023 – Guitar on "Is My Dick Enough (feat. Dweezil Zappa)" by Steel Panther


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December 2010 interview
with Tom Waring
March 2016 interview
with Marc Maron {{DEFAULTSORT:Zappa, Dweezil 1969 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American heavy metal guitarists American male television actors American male voice actors American people of Italian descent American people of West Asian descent American people of Portuguese descent American people of Greek descent American lead guitarists American people of Danish descent American people of French descent Lisa Loeb Chrysalis Records artists Grammy Award winners American male guitarists Zappa Plays Zappa members Favored Nations artists Dweezil