Berlin has named a street in honour of American musician Frank Zappa, who died in 1993 of prostate cancer.

Frank-Zappa-Strasse, or Frank Zappa Street, sits on the eastern edge of Berlin in what used to be East Germany.

The street, about 3,000 metres long, was home to a former Communist-era film studio, Orwo Haus, but the building is now a practice space for more than 160 bands.

"[Frank Zappa] was without taboo, musically versatile, provocative, and didn't allow himself to be captured by capitalistic enterprises," said the Orwo Haus association.

Musicians campaigned several years to have the street's name — Street 13 — changed.

Zappa's brother, Bobby Zappa, released a statement that said the Grammy Award-winning rocker would have been pleased.

"I am absolutely certain that he would be very proud to have his name as an address for so many musicians," Bobby Zappa wrote.

More than 2,800 people turned up for an all-night concert over the weekend to mark the occasion.

Born in 1940 in Baltimore, Frank Zappa would go on to become an eclectic artist with interests in music and film. He was highly prolific, composing rock, jazz and symphonies during his 30-year career. He also created feature-length films and short videos.

Zappa self-produced almost every one of his 57 albums. He had several Grammy nominations, winning Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1988.

Zappa was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and was given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.

With files from the Associated Press