Cass Elliot Cass Elliot Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen; September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and actress, best known as a member of the Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. In 1998 she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her work with the Mamas & the Papas. Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Philip Cohen (d: 1962) and his wife Bess (née Levine, 1915–1994). Both her parents were the children of Jewish
The Mamas & the Papas McKenzie (1939–2012). In 1991, Mackenzie Phillips was replaced by Laurie Beebe Lewis, a former vocalist with the Buckinghams who had earlier (1986–1987) temped with the band when Mackenzie Phillips was pregnant. John Phillips dropped out after a liver transplant in 1992 and Doherty returned. Lewis and McFarlane left in 1993, to be replaced by Lisa Brescia and Deb Lyons. The band continued to perform with varying line-ups, including Barry McGuire (1997–1998) and the recovering Phillips, until 1998, by which time, according to one critic, "the jingle singers who sang those fabulous Cass, Michelle, John, and Denny parts were an aural