Frank Zappa
guitar · vocals · conductor
1,631 nights · 1965–1993
Frank Zappa led every one of the 1,631 documented nights in the archive, from 9 May 1965 to 8 January 1993, with 202 other players on stage over the years.
About
Composer, guitarist and bandleader — the reason this archive exists. Between 1965 and 1988 he kept a working band on the road almost continuously, treating each line-up as a new instrument to write for, and recorded nearly every night of it.
Beyond Zappa
Beyond the touring bands: 60+ albums from Freak Out! (1966) to orchestral and Synclavier work (The Yellow Shark, Jazz From Hell), film, satire, and testimony before the U.S. Senate against record labeling.
Wikipedia ↗Zappa Wiki Jawaka ↗photo via Wikipedia
Most nights on stage with
- Roy Estrada558 nights
- Ian Underwood502 nights
- Don Preston477 nights
- Jimmy Carl Black467 nights
- Bunk Gardner410 nights
- Ray White406 nights
- Tommy Mars392 nights
- Ike Willis389 nights
- Ed Mann352 nights
- George Duke317 nights
- Chad Wackerman305 nights
- Robert Martin305 nights
- Scott Thunes305 nights
- Ray Collins301 nights
- Bruce Fowler283 nights
- Napoleon Murphy Brock281 nights
- Billy Mundi269 nights
- Terry Bozzio260 nights
- Tom Fowler252 nights
- Ruth Underwood216 nights
- Arthur Barrow203 nights
- Motorhead Sherwood191 nights
- Steve Vai162 nights
- Peter Wolf160 nights
- Art Tripp159 nights
- Patrick O'Hearn150 nights
- Chester Thompson146 nights
- Ralph Humphrey144 nights
- Vinnie Colaiuta133 nights
- Jeff Simmons132 nights
Most played songs
- City Of Tiny Lites×328
- Cosmik Debris×310
- Pound For A Brown×254
- Bobby Brown×247
- The Illinois Enema Bandit×239
- Montana×238
- Easy Meat×231
- The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing×220
- Dancin' Fool×212
- I Ain't Got No Heart×209
- Black Napkins×208
- Chunga's Revenge×200
Every night, by year
Every date is on its year's page in the archive.