Frank Zappa: Baltimore's Favorite Mother

Born Frank Vincent Zappa in Baltimore Maryland, Frank Zappa was rock and roll's sharpest musical mind and most astute social critic.  He was the most prolific composer of his age, and he bridged genres--rock, jazz, classical, avant-garde, and even novelty music with ease. Under his own name and with the Mothers of Invention, Zappa recorded 60 albums' worth of material in his 52 years.

Zappa challenged the status quo on many fronts. As a plainspoken curmudgeon, he confronted the corrupt politics of the ruling class and held the banal and decadent lifestyles of his countrymen to unforgiving scrutiny. Rock's foremost satirist tempered his borderline misanthropy with a high regard for human potential and a fierce belief in free speech and the ideal of democracy.

He died at age 52 in 1993.

--from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

This exhibit can be found in a glass display case just in front of the main Service Desk in the library.