And so Zappa, the lifelong contrarian whose music mocked and shocked the rock world for three decades, bowed out quietly. A year later the prolific composer and satirist behind such albums as Uncle Meat and Weasels Ripped My Flesh would learn that he was suffering from the untreatable prostate cancer that killed him on Dec. 4 at 52. Thought he had been ill for several years, repeated examinations had failed to reveal the cancer until 1990. "That's why it came as such a shock," Zappa said last spring. "You can imagine how irate a person might be when you are informed that 'yeah, you've got it and we can't operate on it.' "
Chemotherapy and one prolonged morphine treatment left the vehemently antidrug Zappa unable to put in his usual 16-hour days composing avant-garde music. still, he was able to complete his last work, Civilization Phaze III, at the L.A. home that he shared with his wife of 26 years, Gail, 48. and their four children. Moon, 26, Dweezil 24, Ahmet, 19 and Diva, 14. Old friends dropped by, and even Al and Tipper Gore—whose 1985 campaign to sticker rock records earned Zappa's ire—sent a note encouragement. Says Zappa protege Alice Cooper: "Everybody that was considered a genius, from the Beatles to Brian Wilson, looked to Zappa us the genius."
Thought he often said he didn't care how he was remembered, Zappa once framed his own legacy when discussing his 60-old albums. "I don't do anything for applause." he said. "Everything I do is for laughs."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
