Captain Beefheart

Don Glen Vliet or Don Van Vliet (born January 15, 1941), is a musician that is best known under his stage name Captain Beefheart. He is principally associated with the rock genre, but his music is idiosyncratic and diverse to such an extent that it largely defies classification. Much of his work was conducted with an assembly of musicians, the Magic Band (see Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band).

He was born in Glendale, California.

Vliet collaborated with Frank Zappa who was a schoolfriend, although this relationship was subject to peaks and troughs. Their collaborative work can be found on the 1975 album "Bongo Fury", along with Zappa rarity collections "The Lost Episodes" and "Mystery Disc".

In recent years, Vliet has become somewhat reclusive and abandoned music for painting. His artwork is as extreme and innovative as was his music. He currently lives in Northern California coast, and is believed to be suffering from multiple sclerosis.