'I had been trained to want nothing and be nothing”

Long before Elon Musk started giving his children weird names, the daughter of rock star Frank Zappa was dealing with being little Moon Unit. She tells Fiona Sturges about being the eldest child of erratic, unconventional parents

- Fiona Sturges

Fame came early for Moon Unit Zappa, eldest daughter of legendary musician Frank and his wife Gail, though not by choice. Her unusual name, dreamt up by her dad – “Unit” supposedly signified their familial bond – meant everyone knew who she was from infancy.

Her teens brought a fresh wave of celebrity which, she notes, “I also didn’t ask for.” A rare and spontaneous moment with her father in his home studio, during which he recorded her delivering a stream of exaggerated California teen-speak – “It’s, like, grody to the max!” – became the centrepiece of the novelty single “Valley Girl”. Released in 1982, it was Frank’s biggest hit and propelled a reluctant Moon, then an acne-ridden, desperately awkward 14-year-old, into the spotlight.

In her memoir, Earth to Moon, she recalls appearing alongside Frank on TV talk shows, including Late Night with David Letterman, where she quickly learnt that certain stories would get “a big reaction. Like the one about the Kiwi groupie moving in [to the family home]… or the unconventional parenting story about the time Gail handcuffed me and [younger brother] Dweezil together by the ankles, recorded our fight and played it back for us.” It was, she says now, “a confusing time”.

Moon, 57, is talking over Zoom from her living room in Los Angeles. She is terrific company: open, articulate and quick to laugh. During our hour-long conversation, she moves between dryly sanguine and palpably livid about her treatment by her narcissistic parents (along with Dweezil, she has two more siblings: Ahmet and Diva).

Her book, out in paperback this week, is a wild read, both shocking and improbably funny as it catalogues life in their rambling home in Laurel Canyon, a place that was permanently under construction, rarely cleaned and had a painting of an orgy in the living room.