Frank Zappa, a name known by many, lived in relative obscurity, but produced a mountain of music. Between 1966 and his death in 1993, he released 62 albums. Posthumously, his family has released 43 more. That’s 105 albums in total. To put that into perspective, the Rolling Stones have released 90 albums (over half were live or compilation) in their 52 year career.

Zappa was predominately Sagittarius, his Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Ascendant reflecting the fiery warrior, an adventurous hunter out to explore the unknown and push the boundaries with a playful and jovial nature. His Sun, however, was square his Virgo Moon. What he wanted and what he needed often conflicted, but his moon likely kept him detail-oriented and focused. He also produced the majority of his albums, which harkens back to this internal lasso and likely made him extremely critical of his own work.

Jupiter in his fifth house indicates success in love, joy, and his children. In this video from 1988, it’s very evident in Zappa’s own words and pictures, his pride in his children. This placement of Jupiter is one of the best and indicates luck in breaking down doors, fortune, and a lifetime of joy. Saturn also appears in his fifth house, allowing his life lesson to be confidence in his happiness, placing just a bit of restraint on risking too much.

Frank Zappa, with one of his co-horts, Captain Beefheart, was known for his inventive, sometimes seemingly nonsensical lyrics, like “The way you do the bop // Like a spinning top // The Pachuco Hop // And the L.A. Slop // You make a street car stop // At the soda shop // And my eye-balls pop.” This lines up with his clever and creative Moon in the ninth house, giving his language a flair for the inventive and brilliant.

His fans have always fascinated me, as they’re absolute devotees or not at all. Frank Zappa was one of those musicians who didn’t just sit on the brink of discovery; he was the one who jumped over the unsafe ledge, combining elements of jazz, psychedelic, funk, and folk into his own cauldron of mystery. He would have been 76 years old this year. Cheers to this early pioneer of freaks and absurdity!