Sophie Tucker lung cancer and kidney failure on February 9, 1966, aged 79, in New York City. She had continued working until the months before her death, playing shows at the Latin Quarter just weeks before. She is buried in Emanuel Cemetery, in Wethersfield, Connecticut, her home state. Tucker's comic and singing styles are credited with influencing later female entertainers including Mae West, Rusty Warren, Carol Channing, Totie Fields, Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, Ethel Merman, "Mama" Cass Elliot of The Mamas & the Papas, and most notably Bette Midler, who has included "Soph" as one of her many stage characters. She also
The Mamas & the Papas she lacked her predecessor's "stage charisma and grittier edge", and Michelle Phillips was reinstated on August 23, 1966. "Jill Gibson, so nearly a full-time Mama, left and was paid a lump sum from the group's funds." "The Mamas & the Papas" peaked at number four in the US, continuing the band's success, but only made number twenty-four in the UK. "I Saw Her Again" was released as a single in June 1966 and reached number five in the US and number eleven in the UK. There is a false start to the final chorus of the song at 2'42". While