Dweezil Zappa Gets Emotional Talking Zappa Family Drama With Marc Maron

The latest installment of comedian Marc Maron’s always insightful WTF Podcast features an interview with Dweezil Zappa in which the guitarist explains his side of the story regarding the drama with his family that has led him to twice change the name of his band. Dweezil details the backstory and at one point breaks down in tears, as does the host, during the emotional chat.

Zappa starts off by explaining the initial deal he made with his mother, the late Gail Zappa, when Dweezil first brought Zappa Plays Zappa on the road in 2006. Gail trademarked the Zappa Plays Zappa name, so a contract was created that required Dweezil to pay $1,000 a show every time he played the music of Frank Zappa. The guitarist was supposed to get some of the money rebated back to him, but according to Dweezil that never happened. Gail also created a merch agreement of which the Zappa Family Trust would receive 60 percent of proceeds from t-shirts and the like while Dweezil would get 40 percent. The guitarist claims he never received his share at any point over the 10 years. He also revealed he had a tenuous relationship with his mother, but never wanted to go so far as to sue his mom.

Dweezil became upset as he recounted some of the lies he feels his mom told him, including that Frank wanted to withhold digital rights to his music, that Frank didn’t have a will (it was finally recently discovered) and that FZ didn’t want anything to do with family. The guitarist said he recently met Frank’s brother Bobby Zappa after more than 35 years and teared up as he told Maron that Gail wouldn’t allow Bobby to visit Frank on his deathbed.

The guitarist was also emotional as he discussed a letter Frank had written him that Gail wouldn’t give to Dweezil. “She kept (the note) and I don’t know where it is,” Dweezil said. “I saw it once but she just kept it. It just basically said ‘I love you’ and I didn’t get it back,” the guitarist recounted through tears, leading to an emotional reaction from the host as well. “It’s messed up. None of it has to happen the way that it’s happening. At the end of the day, it’s about music.”

Ahmet Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust declined to share their side with Maron when Marc reached out. Head here to listen to the whole interview.

[Hat Tip – Relix.com]