Moon Unit Zappa (born September 28, 1967, in New York City) is the oldest child of late American rock star Frank Zappa and Gail Sloatman; she goes by the name "Moon Zappa." Apart from the novelty of her unusual name, she first came to public attention at the age of 14, in 1982, as a vocalist on her father's hit single "Valley Girl". The song featured Moon Unit Zappa delivering a monologue in 'val-speak', a collection of slang terms popular in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles.
"Valley Girl" was Frank Zappa's only top 40 hit in the United States, and popularized phrases such as "Grody to the max", "Gag me with a spoon", and also the word bitchin' as a term of high praise. The song appeared on Zappa's 1982 album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch.
She has three younger siblings, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva. As an adult she has worked as a stand-up comic, magazine writer, actress (notably in the television sitcom Normal Life), and is author of the novel America, the Beautiful, which was published by Touchstone on September 11, 2001 (ISBN 0743213831). The semi-autobiographical novel features a protagonist named "American Throne" and was overshadowed by the events of 9/11.
Zappa is married to Paul Doucette, the drummer for matchbox twenty. She gave birth to their first child, Mathilda Plum Doucette, on December 21, 2004, which would have been her late father's sixty-fourth birthday. Mathilda is Frank Zappa's first grandchild.
National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985)
