One of the first things I looked for on my first trip to Vilnius in 2005 was the bust of Frank Zappa, the American guitarist and composer of such tunes as “Absolutely Free”, “Peaches en regalia”, and “We’re only in it for the money”, who died in 1993.

He wasn’t Lithuanian and as far as I know never visited the country but was admired for his anti-establishment views during soviet times.

A group of music lovers (depends on your taste in music) led by Saulius Paukstys lobbied parliament to get a statue erected.

They then raised funds to have this bust made by sculptor Konstantinas Bogdanas, a man  previously known for his social realist depictions of Lenin and other communist leaders.

The bust was originally planned to be placed outside the Vilnius Art School but it ended up on K. Kalinausko g. where you could easily miss it.

When I took these photos there was the painted backdrop (not sure that’s still there but I’ll check on my next visit). FYI a fellow blogger aBitofCulture, has told  me it was still there in 2012. See his post on Vilnius