Ahmet Zappa Biography

American musician and writer (b. 1974)

Musical artist

Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa (born May 15, 1974) is an American musician and writer, 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 businesswoman Gail Zappa (née Sloatman). His father was of Italian (Sicilian), Greek, Arab, and French descent, and his mother was of German and Portuguese ancestry. He is said to be named after music executive Ahmet Ertegun (co-founder and president of Atlantic Records), whom his father greatly admired. This is contradicted by Neil Slaven in Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story Of Frank Zappa, who notes:

His first name was that of an imaginary person we always had hanging around back when we had no one on our payroll," Gail told Victoria Balfour. "We'd snap our fingers and say, 'Ahmet? Dishes. Coffee, please.' He was also named Rodan after a giant pterodactyl that would have ravaged the world if the *anese film director Ishiro Honda hadn't destroyed it in 1957.

His older brother and sister are Dweezil Zappa and Moon Zappa, and his younger sister is Diva Zappa.

Career

Ahmet Zappa has released several albums with his brother Dweezil, and wrote the song "Frogs with Dirty Little Lips" with his father.

He has appeared in several feature films and television programs. In the late 1990s, he appeared on Channel 4 UK's The Adam and Joe Show, in a regular segment called "Vinyl Justice", in which hosts Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish, dressed as policemen, examined his vinyl collection for "criminal records". In 2000, he appeared in the film Ready to Rumble. With his brother Dweezil, he performed a cover of Britney Spears' song "...Baby One More Time" for the film's soundtrack. Other appearances include hosting the TV shows Robotica (TV series) and But Can They Sing?.

In July 2006, Zappa saw the release of his debut novel, en*led The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless, aimed at younger readers. The rights to a movie were purchased by Bruckheimer Films and Disney. The movie is in production with screenwriter Tim Firth *isting, no release date has been announced.

On October 19, 2006, The Jim Henson Company announced it had hired Zappa to write a treatment for a feature film version of the hit 1980s television show Fraggle Rock. He is also writing a sequel to The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless, which had also been optioned to adapt to a screenplay. Zappa proposed to Disney's studio head Bob Iger that the company form a graphic novel-to-film division; the result was "Disney's Kingdom Comics." Zappa was also given a first-look deal at Walt Disney Studios for motion picture productions. His company is called Monsterfoot Productions. His first film, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, was released in 2012 by Walt Disney Pictures, and starred Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton.

Following the death of Zappa's mother, Gail, in October 2015, it was revealed that Ahmet and his sister Diva were given control of the Zappa Family Trust with shares of 30% each, while his siblings Moon and Dweezil were given smaller shares of 20% each. As beneficiaries only, Moon and Dweezil will not see any money from the trust until it is profitable—in 2016, it was "millions of dollars in debt"—and must seek permission from Ahmet, the trustee, to make money from their father's music or merchandise bearing his name. The uneven divide of the trust has resulted in several conflicts between Zappa's children, including a feud between Dweezil and Ahmet over Dweezil's use of his father's music in live performances.

Under Ahmet's direction, the trust proposed a trademark on the name Zappa, which would prevent Dweezil from using the name for commercial purposes without authorization. Since 2006, Dweezil toured with an act called Zappa Plays Zappa, playing his father's music. The trust sought to collect a fee from Dweezil for continued use of the name, as well as proceeds from merchandise sold at Zappa Plays Zappa concerts. In response to the trust's action, Dweezil renamed his performance series "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants—the Cease and Desist Tour. In more recent times, the Zappa siblings have legally reconciled their differences with Dweezil noting "It may be a bumpy road at times – we are a p*ionate Italian family – but we have decided to work toward privately discussing issues rather than using public forums and lawyers."

Personal life

Zappa married actress Selma Blair on January 24, 2004, at Carrie Fisher's mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Blair filed for divorce at the Los Angeles Superior Court on June 21, 2006, citing irreconcilable differences. In a statement to People, a spokesman for the couple said, "Selma and Ahmet have decided to divorce but love each other very much and will continue to be close friends".

Zappa is now married to Shana Muldoon—designer, writer, and creator of Disney Star Darlings and the sister of actor Patrick Muldoon. They have a daughter, Halo Violetta Zappa, born in 2010, and a son, Arrow D'Oro Leon Zappa, born in 2016.

Discography

  • Confessions (1991)
  • Shampoohorn (1994)
  • Music for Pets (1996)

Filmography

  • Pump Up the Volume (1990) – Jaime
  • Anarchy TV (1998) - Officer Sweitzer
  • Jack Frost (1998) – Snow plow driver
  • Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) – Laszlo
  • Ready to Rumble (2000) – Cashier
  • Gen13 (2000) – Additional Voices (voice)
  • The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) – story by and producer

Television

  • 2 Hip 4 Tv – Host (1988)
  • Roseanne (1994)
  • webRIOT – host (1999)
  • Happy Hour – host (1999)
  • Robotica – host for three seasons (2001–2002)
  • But Can They Sing? – host (2005)
  • Head Case Ep No. 105 (Parental Guidance Required) – Starz Channel Original Series – self (2008)

References

    External links

    • Ahmet Zappa at IMDb
    Posthumous
    official releasesMiscellaneous
    • Lumpy Gravy (Primordial)
    • The Guitar World According to Frank Zappa
    • Beat the Boots!
    • Beat the Boots! II
    Singles
    • "Trouble Comin' Every Day"
    • "Who Are the Brain Police?"
    • "WPLJ"
    • "My Guitar"
    • "Peaches en Regalia"
    • "I'm the Slime"
    • "Cosmik Debris"
    • "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow"
    • "Du Bist Mein Sofa"
    • "Find Her Finer"
    • "Disco Boy"
    • "Dancin' Fool"
    • "Bobby Brown"
    • "Joe's Garage"
    • "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted"
    • "You Are What You Is"
    • "Valley Girl"
    • "Cocaine Decisions"
    • "Stairway to Heaven"
    Other
    compositions
    • "Absolutely Free"
    • "Advance Romance"
    • "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary"
    • "America Drinks & Goes Home"
    • "Are You Hung Up?"
    • "Billy the Mountain"
    • "The Black Page"
    • "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"
    • "Camarillo Brillo"
    • "Cheepnis"
    • "Duodenum"
    • "Father O'Blivion"
    • "Help, I'm a Rock"
    • "G-Spot Tornado"
    • "I Have Been in You"
    • "Inca Roads"
    • "Jewish Princess"
    • "Let's Make the Water Turn Black"
    • "A Little Green Rosetta"
    • "Memories of El Monte"
    • "Montana"
    • "Muffin Man"
    • "Nanook Rubs It"
    • "Plastic People"
    • "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet"
    • "Rollo"
    • "Sleep Dirt"
    • "St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast"
    • "Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance"
    • "A Token of My Extreme"
    • "The Torture Never Stops"
    • "Uncle Remus"
    • "Watermelon in Easter Hay"
    • "Who Needs the Peace Corps?"
    • "Willie the Pimp"
    • "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station"
    Filmography
    • 200 Motels
    • Baby Snakes
    • The Dub Room Special
    • Does Humor Belong in Music?
    • Video from Hell
    • Uncle Meat
    • The True Story of Frank Zappa's 200 Motels
    • The Amazing Mr. Bickford
    Relatives
    • Gail Zappa
    • Moon Zappa
    • Dweezil Zappa
    • Ahmet Zappa
    • Diva Zappa
    Influence
    • In popular culture
    • Zappa Plays Zappa
    • Pachygnatha zappa
    • Phialella zappai
    • Zappa confluentus
    • 3834 Zappafrank
    • Frankly a Cappella
    • King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa
    • Zappa's Universe
    Related articles
    • Discography
    • Musicians
    • Captain Beefheart
    • Wild Man Fischer
    • Bobby Jameson
    • Ruben and the Jets
    • The Real Frank Zappa Book
    • Zappa Records
    • Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra
    • Bizarre Records
    • Straight Records
    • DiscReet Records
    • Barking Pumpkin Records
    • Studio Z
    • Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
    • Category

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    Ahmet Zappa