Editing Frank Zappa (section)

==1980–1993: Later years==
===Beginning of Barking Pumpkin Records label===
{{see also|Tinsel Town Rebellion|Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar|You Are What You Is}}
[[File:Zappa-buffalo-ny.jpg|thumb|Zappa performing at the [[Buffalo Memorial Auditorium|Memorial Auditorium]], [[Buffalo, New York]], 1980. The concert was released in 2007 as ''[[Buffalo (Frank Zappa album)|Buffalo]]''.]]
Zappa cut ties with Phonogram after the distributor refused to release his song "[[I Don't Wanna Get Drafted]]", which was recorded in February 1980.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_i5f3jhD9UC&pg=PA3054|title=The New York Times Guide to the Arts of the 20th Century|access-date=April 30, 2012|editor=Bruckner, D. J. R.|date=2002|page=3054|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-57958-290-6}}</ref> The single was released independently by Zappa in the United States and was picked up by CBS Records internationally.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Frank-Zappa-I-Dont-Wanna-Get-Drafted/release/807608|title=Frank Zappa – I Don't Wanna Get Drafted! (Vinyl) at|year=1980 |publisher=discogs|access-date=April 30, 2012}}</ref>

After spending much of 1980 on the road, Zappa released ''[[Tinsel Town Rebellion]]'' in 1981. It was the first release on his own [[Barking Pumpkin Records]],<ref name="lowe"/>{{rp|161}} and featured live recordings from 1979 and 1980, as well as a new studio track, "Fine Girl". The album is a mixture of complicated instrumentals and Zappa's use of ''[[sprechstimme]]'' (speaking song or voice)—a compositional technique utilized by such composers as [[Arnold Schoenberg]] and [[Alban Berg]]—showcasing some of the most accomplished bands Zappa ever had (mostly featuring drummer Vinnie Colaiuta).<ref name="lowe"/>{{rp|161}} While some lyrics still raised controversy among critics, some of whom found them sexist,<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|284}} the political and sociological satire in songs like the title track and "The Blue Light" have been described as a "hilarious critique of the willingness of the American people to believe anything".<ref name="lowe"/>{{rp|165}} The album is also notable for the presence of guitarist [[Steve Vai]], who joined Zappa's touring band in late 1980.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|283}}

In 1981, Zappa also released three instrumental albums, ''[[Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar]]'', ''Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More'', and ''The Return of the Son of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar'', which were initially sold via mail order, but later released through CBS Records (now [[Sony Music Entertainment]]) due to popular demand.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Zappa|first=Frank|title=Absolutely Frank. First Steps in Odd Meters|journal=Guitar Player Magazine|page=116|date=November 1982}}</ref>

The albums focus exclusively on Frank Zappa as a guitar soloist, and the tracks are predominantly live recordings from 1979 to 1980; they highlight Zappa's improvisational skills with "beautiful performances from the backing group as well".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Swenson|first=John|magazine=[[Guitar World]] |date=November 1981|title=Frank Zappa: Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar, Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More, The Return of the Son of Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar}}</ref> Another guitar-only album, ''[[Guitar (Frank Zappa album)|Guitar]]'', was released in 1988, and a third, ''[[Trance-Fusion]]'', which Zappa completed shortly before his death, was released in 2006.<ref>{{cite book |title=Guitar Gods: The 25 Players who Made Rock History |edition=illustrated |first1=Bob |last1=Gulla |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-313-35806-7 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DL3I9qQWdeAC&pg=PA251 251] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DL3I9qQWdeAC}}</ref>
{{clear}}
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Zappa_SYNPYG.ogg|description=The title track on ''[[Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar]]'' features Zappa's guitar improvisations.|title="Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar Some More" (recorded 1979, released 1981)|pos=left}}

The same year, the double album ''[[You Are What You Is]]'' was released. The album mainly consisted of rock songs with Zappa's sardonic social commentary—satirical lyrics directed at teenagers, the media, and religious and political hypocrisy.<ref>{{cite web|url= {{AllMusic|class=album|id=r53163|pure_url=yes}}|title=You Are What You Is. Review|last=Huey|first=Steve|work=AllMusic|access-date=January 7, 2008}}</ref> "Dumb All Over" is a tirade on religion, as is "Heavenly Bank Account", wherein Zappa rails against [[Televangelism|TV evangelists]] such as [[Jerry Falwell]] and [[Pat Robertson]] for their purported influence on the U.S. administration as well as their use of religion as a means of raising money.<ref name="lowe"/>{{rp|169–175}} Songs like "Society Pages" and "I'm a Beautiful Guy" show Zappa's dismay with the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] era and its "obscene pursuit of wealth and happiness".<ref name="lowe"/>{{rp|169–175}} Zappa made his only music video for a song from this album – "You Are What You Is" – directed by Jerry Watson, produced by Paul Flattery. The video was banned from [[MTV]], though was later featured by [[Mike Judge]] in the ''[[Beavis & Butthead]]'' episode "Canoe".<ref>{{cite web |title="Beavis and Butt-Head" Canoe - Soundtracks |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0857490/soundtrack/ |website=IMDB |access-date=August 11, 2022}}</ref> Also included is the guitar instrumental, "Theme from the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear" which he adapted from a ballet, performed with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra in 1984. 

Zappa later expanded on his television appearances in a non-musical role. He was an actor or voice artist in episodes of ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre|Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre]]'',<ref name="ZappaIMDB">{{IMDb name|id=0953261|name=Frank Zappa profile}}. Retrieved July 30, 2008.</ref> ''[[Miami Vice]]''<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|343}} and ''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show]]''.<ref name="ZappaIMDB"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Komorowski |first1=Thad |title=Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story |date=2017 |publisher=BearManor Media |isbn=978-1629331836 |location=Albany, Georgia}}</ref> A voice part in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' never materialized, to creator [[Matt Groening]]'s disappointment (Groening was a neighbor of Zappa and a lifelong fan).<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Homer and Me|last=Eliscu|first=Jenny |magazine=Rolling Stone|date=November 8, 2002}}</ref>

==="Valley Girl" and classical performances===
{{see also|Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch|The Man from Utopia|London Symphony Orchestra (Zappa albums)}}
In May 1982, Zappa released ''[[Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch]]'', which featured his biggest selling single ever, the [[Grammy Award]]-nominated song "[[Valley Girl (song)|Valley Girl]]" (topping out at No.&nbsp;32 on the ''Billboard'' charts).<ref name="BBsingles"/> In her improvised lyrics to the song, Zappa's daughter [[Moon Zappa|Moon]] satirized the [[patois]] of teenage girls from the [[San Fernando Valley]], which popularized many "[[Valleyspeak]]" expressions such as "gag me with a spoon", "fer sure, fer sure", "grody to the max", and "barf out".<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=song|id=t2677879|pure_url=yes}}|title="Valley Girl" --song review|last=Huey|first=Steve|work=AllMusic|access-date=January 7, 2008}}</ref>

A 1983 album ''[[The Man from Utopia]],'' featured an anti-drug single "[[Cocaine Decisions]]". "The Dangerous Kitchen" and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" are continuations of the sprechstimme vocal excursions on ''Tinseltown Rebellion'', and the album also has jazzy rock instrumentals "Mōggio" and "We Are Not Alone". A second 1983 album, ''[[London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. I]]'', includes orchestral Zappa compositions conducted by [[Kent Nagano]] and performed by the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (LSO). A second record of these sessions, ''[[London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. II]]'' was released in 1987. The material was recorded under a tight schedule with Zappa providing all funding, helped by the commercial success of "Valley Girl".<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|146–156}} Zappa was not satisfied with the LSO recordings. One reason is "Strictly Genteel", which was recorded after the trumpet section had been out for drinks on a break: the track took 40 edits to hide out-of-tune notes.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|146–156}}

Conductor Nagano, who was pleased with the experience, noted that "in fairness to the orchestra, the music is humanly very, very difficult".<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|315}} Some reviews noted that the recordings were the best representation of Zappa's orchestral work so far.<ref>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r53172|pure_url=yes}}|title=London Symphony Orchestra, Vol. 1. Review|first=William|last=Ruhlmann|work=AllMusic|access-date=January 7, 2008}}</ref> In 1984 Zappa teamed again with Nagano and the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/docs/A_Zappa_Affair.html |title=A Zappa Affair |website=Globalia.net |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref> for a live performance of ''A Zappa Affair'' with augmented orchestra, life-size puppets, and moving stage sets. Although critically acclaimed, the work was a financial failure, and only performed twice. Zappa was invited by conference organizer [[Thomas Wells (composer)|Thomas Wells]] to be the keynote speaker at the American Society of University Composers at the [[Ohio State University]]. It was there Zappa delivered an address entitled "Bingo! There Goes Your Tenure",<ref>{{cite web |first=Frank |last=Zappa |url=https://otg.brainiac.com/fzfull.htm |title=Bingo! There Goes Your Tenure |year=1984 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180328152956/https://otg.brainiac.com/fzfull.htm |archive-date=March 28, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and had two of his orchestra pieces, "Dupree's Paradise" and "Naval Aviation in Art?" performed by the [[Columbus Symphony Orchestra]] and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|323}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelp |first=Larry |title=Zappa Pokes into The Fine Arts |newspaper=The Oakland Tribune |date=June 18, 1984 |url=https://www.afka.net/Articles/1984-06_Oakland_Tribune.htm |access-date=July 5, 2009 |archive-date=October 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004014926/http://www.afka.net/Articles/1984-06_Tribune.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Zappa's management relationship with Bennett Glotzer ended in 1984.<ref>Don Menn, "How It All Works. Gail Zappa", Zappa!, 1992, p. 76</ref> Starting in 1985 Gail began managing much of the Zappa business empire, which included a record label, a mail-order company, a video company and a music publishing firm.<ref name="capitalistrocker">{{cite news |date=December 19, 1989 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-19-fi-721-story.html |title=Frank Zappa, Capitalist Rocker : Entrepreneurship: Zappa got title to his master recordings... |first=Patrice |last=Apodaca |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=July 29, 2023}}</ref>

===Beginning of Synclavier works===
{{see also|The Perfect Stranger (Frank Zappa album)|Them or Us|Thing-Fish|Francesco Zappa (album)|Does Humor Belong in Music? (album)}}
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Zappa_NavalAviation.ogg|description=A Zappa composition for classical ensemble from ''[[The Perfect Stranger (Frank Zappa album)|The Perfect Stranger]]'' (1984)|title="Naval Aviation in Art?" (1984)|pos=right}}
In 1983, Zappa began using the [[Synclavier]], an early digital synthesizer which over time became his primary compositional and performance tool.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|172–173}} According to Zappa, "With the Synclavier, any group of imaginary instruments can be invited to play the most difficult passages&nbsp;... with ''one-millisecond'' accuracy—every time".<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|172–173}} Even though it essentially did away with the need for musicians,<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|319}} Zappa viewed the Synclavier and real-life musicians as separate.<ref name="Occhiogrosso"/>{{rp|172–173}}

In late 1984, he released four albums. ''[[The Perfect Stranger (Frank Zappa album)|The Perfect Stranger]]'' contains orchestral works commissioned and conducted by celebrated conductor, composer and pianist [[Pierre Boulez]] (who was listed as an influence on ''Freak Out!''), and performed by his [[Ensemble intercontemporain]]. These were juxtaposed with premiere Synclavier pieces. Again, Zappa was not satisfied with the performances of his orchestral works, regarding them as under-rehearsed, but in the album liner notes he respectfully thanks Boulez's demands for precision.<ref name="watson05"/>{{rp|73}} The Synclavier pieces stood in contrast to the orchestral works, as the sounds were electronically generated and not, as became possible shortly thereafter, [[Sampling (music)|sampled]].

''[[Them or Us]]'' is a two LP set of studio and live rock recordings. It includes a version the [[Allman Brothers Band]] song "[[Whipping Post (song)|Whipping Post]]", and "Be in My Video", Zappa's satirical take on perceived visual clichés of the [[MTV]] channel. ''[[Francesco Zappa (album)|Francesco Zappa]]'', a Synclavier rendition of works by 18th-century composer [[Francesco Zappa]], was also released in 1984.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |edition=illustrated |publisher=Rough Guides |date=2003 |isbn=978-1-85828-457-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock00roug/page/2244 2244] |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock00roug/page/2244 |url-access=registration}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fie47qSuTsoC&pg=PA2244 Extract of page 2244]</ref>

The album ''[[Thing-Fish]]'' was an ambitious three-record set in the style of a Broadway play dealing with a [[dystopia]]n "what-if" scenario involving feminism, homosexuality, manufacturing and distribution of the AIDS virus, and a [[eugenics]] program conducted by the United States government.<ref>The musical was eventually produced for the stage in 2003. See {{cite web|url=http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/interviews/Thing-Fish.htm|title=Thing-Fish&nbsp;– The Return of Frank Zappa|publisher=The British Theatre Guide|access-date=December 11, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115113542/http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/interviews/Thing-Fish.htm|archive-date=January 15, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> New vocals were combined with previously released tracks and new Synclavier music; "the work is an extraordinary example of ''[[bricolage]]''".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Carr|first1=Paul|last2=Hand|first2=Richard J.|title=Frank Zappa and musical theatre: ugly ugly o'phan Annie and really deep, intense, thought-provoking Broadway symbolism|journal=Studies in Musical Theatre|volume=1|issue=1|pages=44–51|date=2007|url=http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=4872|doi=10.1386/smt.1.1.41/1|access-date=July 28, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308110412/http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Article,id=4872/|archive-date=March 8, 2014|url-status=dead| issn = 1750-3159}} Full article available by free login only.</ref>

=== Merchandising ===
Zappa's mail-order merchandise business, Barfko-Swill, established during the 1980s by Zappa's wife Gail, offers t-shirts, videos, posters, sheet music, and collector's recordings, most of them unavailable through other media.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 4, 2021 |title=Barfko-Swill |url=https://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/Barfko-Swill |access-date=May 2, 2023 |website=Zappa wiki jawaka}}</ref> Gail has explained why Barfko-Swill was founded: "Just piles and piles of fan mail sitting around unanswered or with no response. The first thing that we did was put a list together from the fan mail and made a Barking Pumpkin t-shirt available which we still have – same old shirt, same old logo, same old price – just to see what would happen. Everybody would write to us and ask us if there was something they could get besides records. ... That was really the primary reason for getting into the business – for setting up Barfko-Swill – in those days was to be independent. To not have to rely on a major record company's interest and ability to promote your product. And that was what the challenge was for me. I prefer the autonomy."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wheeler |first=Drew |date=May 1990 |title=Just Plain Folks |url=https://www.afka.net/Articles/1990-05_Billboard_2.htm |magazine=Billboard}}</ref>

From 1983 to 1993, Barfko-Swill was run by [[Gerry Fialka]];<ref>{{Cite book|last=de Kloet|first=Co|title=Frank & Co|publisher=Haver Producties|year=2020|isbn=978-90-821095-3-5|location=Doetinchem, Netherlands|pages=297}}</ref> Fialka also worked for Zappa as archivist, production assistant, tour assistant, and [[Handyman|factotum]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wills|first=Geoff|title=Zappa and Jazz: Did it Really Smell Funny, Frank?|publisher=Matador|year=2015|isbn=978-1784623913|location=Leicester, UK}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Rosenfeld|first=Hank|date=February 18, 2001|title=McLuhan's Minion|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-18-tm-26777-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209120119/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-18-tm-26777-story.html |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=editorial staff|date=September 13, 2007|title=Gerry Fialka: Questioning the Questions|url=https://argonautnews.com/gerry-fialka-questioning-the-questions/|journal=The Argonaut|access-date=December 9, 2021 |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209120120/https://argonautnews.com/gerry-fialka-questioning-the-questions/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Silverman |first=Ted |date=July 27, 2022 |title=Interview: Zappa Band Alum Ike Willis & Stinkfoot Orchestra's Nick Chargin |url=https://www.jambase.com/article/ike-willis-nick-chargin-interview-zappa-tribute-band-stinkfoot-orchestra |website=JamBase}}</ref> and answered the phone for Zappa's [[Barking Pumpkin Records]] hotline.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Watson|first=Ben|title=Academy Zappa: Proceedings of the First International Conference of Esemplastic Zappology|publisher=SAF Publishing|year=2005|isbn=978-0946719792|editor-last=Watson|editor-first=Ben|location=Dundrennan, UK|pages=72|chapter=Houston... Fort... Marcuse: Sin versus Archetype in Zappa's Oeuvre|editor-last2=Leslie|editor-first2=Esther}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Gamma|title=Academy Zappa: Proceedings of the First International Conference of Esemplastic Zappology|publisher=SAF Publishing|year=2005|isbn=978-0946719792|editor-last=Watson|editor-first=Ben|location=Dundrennan, UK|pages=208|chapter=Poodles: a Zappological reading of Ulysses|editor-last2=Leslie|editor-first2=Esther}}</ref> The 1987 [[VHS]] release of Zappa's film ''[[Baby Snakes]]'' includes, as an extra feature, Fialka giving a tour of Barfko-Swill. He is credited on-screen as "Gerald Fialka Cool Guy Who Wraps Stuff So It Doesn't Break".<ref>{{Cite web|title=gerry fialka|url=https://www.united-mutations.com/f/gerry_fialka.htm|url-status=live|access-date=July 8, 2021|website=United Mutations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040105025331/https://www.united-mutations.com/f/gerry_fialka.htm |archive-date=January 5, 2004 }}</ref> A short clip of this tour is also included in the 2020 documentary film ''Zappa''.

=== Digital medium and last tour ===
{{see also|Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention|Jazz from Hell|
Guitar (Frank Zappa album)|Broadway the Hard Way|The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life|Make a Jazz Noise Here|You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore (disambiguation){{!}}You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore}}
Starting in the mid-1980s, Zappa undertook a comprehensive re-release program of his earlier vinyl recordings.<ref name="miles" />{{rp|340}} He personally oversaw the remastering of all his 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s albums for the new digital compact disc (CD) medium.{{refn|group="nb"|For a comprehensive comparison of vinyl and CD releases, see {{cite web|url=http://lukpac.org/~handmade/patio/vinylvscds/|title=The Frank Zappa Album Versions Guide&nbsp;– Index|series=The Zappa Patio|publisher=lukpac.org/~handmade/patio|access-date=January 7, 2008}}}} Certain aspects of these re-issues have been criticized by some fans as being unfaithful to the original recordings, with changes made to ''We're Only in It for the Money'', ''Cruising with Ruben & the Jets'', ''Uncle Meat'', and ''Sleep Dirt'' being the most strongly criticized.<ref>Miles, 2004, ''Frank Zappa'', p.&nbsp;327.</ref> Nearly twenty years before the advent of online music stores, Zappa had proposed to replace "phonographic record merchandising" of music by "direct digital-to-digital transfer" through phone or cable TV (with royalty payments and consumer billing automatically built into the accompanying software).<ref name="Occhiogrosso" />{{rp|337–339}} In 1989, Zappa considered his idea a "miserable flop".<ref name="Occhiogrosso" />{{rp|337–339}}

The album ''[[Jazz from Hell]],'' released in 1986, earned Zappa his first [[Grammy Award]] in 1988 for [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance|Best Rock Instrumental Performance]]. Except for one live guitar solo ("St. Etienne"), the album exclusively featured compositions brought to life by the Synclavier.

Zappa's last tour in a rock and jazz band format took place in 1988 with a 12-piece group which had a repertoire of over 100 (mostly Zappa) compositions, but which split under acrimonious circumstances before the tour was completed.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|346–350}} The tour was documented on the albums ''[[Broadway the Hard Way]]'' (new material featuring songs with strong political emphasis); ''[[The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life]]'' (Zappa "standards" and an eclectic collection of cover tunes, ranging from [[Maurice Ravel]]'s ''[[Boléro]]'' to [[Led Zeppelin]]'s "[[Stairway to Heaven]]"); and ''[[Make a Jazz Noise Here]]'' (Zappa's more instrumentally complex and jazz orientated material). An album of guitar solos from this tour also appeared as the posthumous 2006 album ''[[Trance-Fusion]]'', a follow-up to the ''Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar'' and ''Guitar'' albums.

More recordings from the 1988 tour would appear as part of ''[[You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore (disambiguation)|You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore]]'', a series of six double CDs compiled by Zappa from unreleased live recordings, dating back to the earliest Mothers recordings from 1965. The six volumes were released between 1988 and 1992.

''[[The Real Frank Zappa Book]]'', co-written with Peter Occhiogrosso, was published by [[Poseidon Press]] in 1989. Zappa appeared on the TV interview show ''[[Larry King Live]]'' to promote it. He explained the title by saying he wrote it in response to previous unauthorized books, which he considered to be stupid and exploitative.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIO57D3ruQU | title=Frank Zappa plugs his autobiography on Larry King Live | website=[[YouTube]] | date=May 22, 2012 }}</ref>

===Health deterioration===
{{see also|The Yellow Shark}}
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Zappa_Nlite.ogg|description=One of Zappa's works for Synclavier on ''[[Civilization Phaze III]]'', cited as his "last great work".<ref name="watson05"/>{{rp|100}}|title="N-Lite" (recorded circa 1991-1992, released 1994)|pos=right}}
In 1990, Zappa was diagnosed with terminal [[prostate cancer]]. The disease had been developing unnoticed for years and was considered inoperable.<ref name="A.C. Grimes">{{cite web |url=https://www.grunge.com/132678/frank-zappas-tragic-real-life-story/ |title=Frank Zappa's Tragic Real-Life Story |website=[[Grunge.com]] |access-date=May 1, 2022 |date=September 5, 2018 |author=A.C. Grimes}}</ref><ref name="Pulse1993"/> After the diagnosis, Zappa devoted most of his energy to modern orchestral and [[Synclavier]] works. Shortly before his death in 1993 he completed ''[[Civilization Phaze III]]'', a major Synclavier work that he had begun in the 1980s.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|374–375}}{{refn|group="nb"|It brought him a posthumous [[Grammy Award]] (with Gail Zappa) for [[Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package|Best Recording Package&nbsp;– Boxed]] in 1994. {{cite web |url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search|title=Grammy Winners|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |access-date=August 18, 2008}}}}

In 1991, Zappa was chosen to be one of four featured composers at the Frankfurt Festival in 1992 (the others were [[John Cage]], [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]], and [[Alexander Knaifel]]).<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Menn| editor-first=Don|contribution=Andreas Mölich-Zebhauser – Preparing the Ensemble Modern for the Frankfurt Festival|title=Zappa! Guitar Player Presents|date=1992|pages=12–13|place=San Francisco, CA|publisher=Miller Freeman|issn=1063-4533}}</ref> Zappa was approached by the German chamber ensemble [[Ensemble Modern]], which was interested in playing his music for the event. Although ill, he invited them to Los Angeles for rehearsals of new compositions and new arrangements of older material.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|369}} Zappa also got along with the musicians, and the concerts in Germany and Austria were set up for later in the year.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|369}} Zappa also performed in 1991 in [[Prague]], claiming that "was the first time that he had a reason to play his guitar in 3 years", and that that moment was just "the beginning of a new country", and asked the public to "try to keep your country unique, do not change it into something else".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/related/Adieu_CA.html |title=Pražský Výběr – Adieu CA |website=Globalia.net |access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|UFtHqDrJ-fA|Frank Zappa Last Performance (Prague 1991)}} at 3:50</ref>

[[John Kricfalusi]], creator of [[Nickelodeon]]'s ''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show]]'', idolized Zappa and got him to voice the [[Pope]] in the episode "[[Powdered Toast Man (episode)|Powdered Toast Man]]"; as Zappa was too ill to head to [[Spümcø]] at [[Los Angeles]], he recorded his lines at his residence. The episode aired in August 1992 to significant controversy without relation to Zappa's appearance.{{sfn|Komorowski|2017|p=145}}

In September 1992, the concerts went ahead as scheduled but Zappa could only appear at two in Frankfurt due to illness. At the first concert, he conducted the opening "Overture", and the final "[[G-Spot Tornado]]" as well as the theatrical "Food Gathering in Post-Industrial America, 1992" and "Welcome to the United States" (the remainder of the program was conducted by the ensemble's regular conductor [[Peter Rundel]]). Zappa received a 20-minute ovation.<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|371}} "G-Spot Tornado" was performed with Canadian dancer [[Louise Lecavalier]]. It was Zappa's last professional public appearance, as the cancer was spreading to such an extent that he was in too much pain to enjoy an event that he otherwise found "exhilarating".<ref name="miles"/>{{rp|371}} Recordings from the concerts appeared on ''[[The Yellow Shark]]'' (1993), Zappa's last release during his lifetime, and some material from studio rehearsals appeared on the posthumous ''[[Everything Is Healing Nicely]]'' (1999).