Mama Cass Elliot was a legendary singer and musician whose enchanting voice swept the globe. As the lead vocalist of the pop-folk-rock band The Mamas and the Papas, she paved the path for other musicians, especially women, together with her bandmates. However, her death’s circumstances have long been a mystery. Finally, Sue Cameron, a dear friend of hers, has revealed the truth.
The Mamas and the Papas developed become more than just a well-known band. Instead, the great pop-folk-rock band helped define an entire musical era with their hippie-style attire, catchy songs, and unique cast of characters. Massive sales of albums, weeks at the top of the charts, and subsequent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame all attest to the band’s immense success.
The Mamas and the Papas will always hold a particular position in music thanks to songs like Dream A Little Dream of Me, Monday Monday, Snowqueen of Texas, and California Dreamin’. The group’s reputation was slightly marred by drug use and other issues, thus they finished on a down note.
Even though the group had only been together for three years, they were nevertheless able to accomplish something quite extraordinary. Elliot Cass, also known as Mama Cass, was a superb singer who stood out in particular. She was one of the most talented singers of her generation and found success both with the group and as a solo artist, thanks to her wonderful harmonies that made The Mamas and the Papas into the great band they were.
However, Mama Cass tragically passed away at the young age of just 32, with early reports suggesting that she had died after choking on a sandwich. But now, following an interview with her good friend Sue Cameron, it’s been clarified that choking wasn’t her actual cause of death.
Ellen Naomi Cohen, more famously known as Mama Cass, was born on September 11, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. It didn’t take long before her family realized she was a very special little girl who was destined for big things. Even they, however, didn’t know she would go on to achieve such legendary status.
By age four, Cass could already speak five languages. Her parents, who originated in Poland and had moved to the U.S. as refugees, often took in refugees themselves arriving from Poland, Germany, Russia, and Italy. This Cass herself confirmed, according to the book Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Life of ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot. The young Cass learned how they spoke, and also the songs they brought with them.
Mama Cass had always been a big girl. However, it didn’t affect her. “I’ve always been different,” Cass said in the early 1970s. “I’ve been fat since I was seven. Being fat sets you apart, but luckily I was bright with it; I had an IQ of 165. I got into the habit of being independent and the habit became a design for living.”
Cass didn’t enjoy playing with toys like the other kids her age. At age nine, she was instead interested in politics. She grew up fast and developed into maturity well before her peers. She even asked a doctor friend her family: “What’s the world situation like?” “It bowled him over I’ll tell you that,” Cass’s 94-year-old aunt Lil Finn said. “But we were always discussing politics in our house, and she would listen in and was a very astute little girl.”
In high school, Mama Cass grew into her new name. She decided to change her first name to “Cass” due to then-popular TV comedian Peggy Cass, and chose a new surname “Elliot” in tribute to an old friend who’d recently…
