Serious classical musicians celebrate him. Musically, he was brilliant. Unfortunately, brilliant music doesn't sell. Just ask those serious classical musicians. So to make a living making art, you need to have an angle, a hustle, something to bring people in. He can't just be talented, you have to know how to put on a show. So he developed a character.
Here's Wikipedia on his politics:
In a 1991 interview, Zappa reported that he was a registered Democrat but added "that might not last long—I'm going to shred that" Describing his political views, Zappa categorized himself as a "practical conservative". He favored limited government and low taxes; he also stated that he approved of national defense, social security, and other federal programs, but only if recipients of such programs are willing and able to pay for them. He favored capitalism, entrepreneurship, and independent business, stating that musicians could make more from owning their own businesses than from collecting royalties. He opposed communism, stating, "A system that doesn't allow ownership ... has—to put it mildly—a fatal design flaw." He had always encouraged his fans to register to vote on album covers, and throughout 1988 he had registration booths at his concerts.
“Serious classical musicians celebrate him.”
Not all. I knew a musician who worked in a symphony orchestra and she thought he was an idiot who knew little about classical music, how symphonies worked, etc. She came to those conclusions after he “conducted” the symphony orchestra she worked it. This was sometime in the late mid to late 1980s.
I had the privilege of attending 5 Zappa shows. Each one was unique and he never failed to surround himself with the finest musicians available. He demanded, and got, the best they had to offer.
L
“Unfortunately, brilliant music doesn’t sell.”
If someone wasn’t buying it, it wouldn’t be produced at all. There would be no classical radio stations, no live performances, etc.
Zappa hated everything Republican because of his hatred of Joe McCarthy, from that point on, every Republican was suspect in his mind.
But the thing is, he hated Communism. He was good friends with Vaclav Havel, the Czech dissident, who became President when the Czechs were liberated from Communism.