11:03 a.m.
2) Dweezil Zappa - 38
D. Weezy is the son of one of the most brilliant men to ever grace the face of the earth, one of my personal musical idols, Mr. Frank Zappa. Frank Zappa not only explored his creativity musically, but also in the naming of his children. Other Zappas include: Moon Unit, Ahmed & Diva. She better work. Dweezil's registered birth name was Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa. But only because those bitchy nurses at the hospital where he was born refused to register him under the name Dweezil. The name was what Frank called an oddly-curled pinky-toe of his wife. That's f'in disgusting. He was always called "Dweezil" by his family and was unaware that this was not the name on his birth certificate. Upon this discovery at the age of seven, he insisted on having his nickname become his legal name. His parents hired an attorney and soon the name Dweezil was official.
Like his father, Dweezil was also very into music. In '80s, he worked as a MTV VJ. He can be seen in the music video for Don Johnson's top 40 song, "Heartbeat." Dweezil also played co-lead guitar on Winger's cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze."
He not only plays music, he also acts. Dweezil can be seen in the Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man as Stevie ("Don't touch that dial!"), and gave his most famous cameo role in Molly Ringwald's brat-pack movie Pretty in Pink as Andi's friend, Simon.
In the mid '90s, Dweezil voiced the character Ajax Duckman on the animated series Duckman. He also briefly appeared in the television sitcom Normal Life with sister Moon Unit Zappa and former Laverne and Shirley star Cindy Williams. He composed and performed the theme music for The Ben Stiller Show. He also had a small role in the Michael Keaton movie Jack Frost in 1998, along with Moon Unit and musician Henry Rollins.
In 2006, Dweezil organized the "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour. He assembled a band of young musicians with a view to bring the music of Frank Zappa to a younger audience. The tour also features guest appearances by Steve Vai, Napoleon Murphy Brock and Terry Bozzio. I was supposed to go see them when they played here in Louisville, but for some reason I couldn't. What was that reason? Does anyone know? Beuller? If it's the last thing I do, I WILL see a Zappa playing some damn Zappa. You dig?
Source: Wikipedia
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