The Hilarious Misbelief About Billy Gibbons' Bones Character

Much like last year's "Suits" renaissance, "Bones" continues to be popular long after wrapping up. The final episode aired back in 2017 but the David Boreanez and Emily Deschanel-starring procedural is still seeing plenty of streaming action on Hulu — and I say, good for "Bones!" If you didn't happen to catch the show during its run on the Fox network, there are several things about the show that might surprise you to learn. The guest stars, for instance, were actually quite impressive. Stephen Fry showed up quite a bit as psychiatrist, Dr. Gordon Wyatt, as did ZZ Top vocalist/guitarist Billy Gibbons. Yes, the hirsute rock star played the father of Angela Montenegro (Michaela Conlin), a Jeffersonian Institute forensic artist.

In a 2010 interview with TVTango, series creator/executive producer Hart Hanson said that he "always knew [Angela] had a rock-star dad because it's just funny to me that guys I idolized as a kid are now grandfathers." At first, the producer didn't know who he would cast in the role, but knew he wanted someone recognizable. When it comes to visually striking rock stars, unless you're going with a member of KISS in full makeup, you don't get much more striking than Billy Gibbons. With his magnificent beard, the ZZ Top vocalist/guitarist is instantly recognizable, and provided Hanson with the rock star dad he was looking for.

After being cast, Gibbons showed up as a recurring character on "Bones," appearing in seven episodes over the series' 12 seasons, beginning with season one, episode nine, "The Man in the Fallout Shelter." Though he's never referred to by name, he does, in fact, play a fictionalized version of himself — leading some to question whether Gibbons is in fact the actress, Michaela Conlin's, father.

In a 2010 interview with TVTango, "Bones" star Emily Deschanel and Hart Hanson discussed Billy Gibbons and the fact that many people seemingly believe him to be related to Angela actress Michaela Conlin. Hanson said:

"We never really say who he is. We never identify him. In the script we just call him Billy F. Gibbons or the Reverend Willy G from time to time. but within the dialogue nobody's ever said 'Hey, your dad's the lead guitar player and singer and song writer for ZZ Top.' No one ever says that. He just appears."

Deschanel went on to reveal that Gibbons told her personally that people he knows believe that he is, in fact, Conlin's father, adding, "He didn't correct them because they thought it was so funny that they believed that." Interestingly enough, it seems that playing a father comes quite naturally to Gibbons, who according to Hanson is an underrated actor due to his ability to switch from rock star to dad figure in an instant. "When the camera's not going," said Hanson, "[Gibbons] looks at Michaela — who's an incredibly beautiful woman — the way that a rock star would look at an incredibly beautiful woman. Then we yell action and then he has to be fatherly."

That vaguely creepy insight aside, it's nice to know that while Gibbons' filmography isn't all that expansive, he delivered what Hanson and co. needed whenever the cameras were rolling.