POP/ROCK - Dec. 17, 1991

Zappa Update: Singer-composer Frank Zappa, who turns 51 on Saturday, has been busily working in his at-home studio since disclosing last month that he was battling prostate cancer. “It hasn’t slowed him down a bit,” his publicist, Sean Mahoney, said Monday. “He’s in the studio--working long days in the studio. He’s composing, mostly classical work.” Zappa has remained somewhat reclusive since the Nov. 7 announcement by his daughter, Moon Unit, and son, Dweezil, in New York City that their father has cancer. Mahoney wouldn’t discuss treatments that Zappa may be undergoing, saying “he would rather not discuss it. He’s been very quiet about this.” Moon Unit has said that her father is successfully fighting the cancer but that “there are occasional periods where he’s not feeling well.”