Mama Cass Elliot took the world by storm with her magical voice. As the singer of the pop-folk-rock group The Mama47s and the Papas, she, together with her bandmates, defined an entire era of music, paving the way for other musicians and women in particular.

But the circumstances of her passing have long been a mystery. Now, her good friend Sue Cameron has explained what really happened.

The Mamas and the Papas went on to not just become a famous band. Rather, the wonderful pop-folk-rock group defined an entire era of music with their hippie clothes, sweet songs and special group of characters.

Their success was enormous, with the band selling millions of albums, spending weeks and weeks at the top of the charts, and later getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Mamas and the Papas

With songs like California Dreamin’, Monday Monday, Snowqueen of Texas and Dream A Little Dream of Me, The Mamas and the Papas will forever have a special place in music. But the group ended on a low note, their image slightly tarnished by drugs and other problems.

The group might have only spent three years together, but in that time they managed to do something pretty unique. Someone who definitely stood out was wonderful singer Elliot Cass, more famously known as Mama Cass.

She was one of the most talented singers of her generation and found success both with the group – thanks to her wonderful harmonies that made The Mamas and the Papas into the great band they were – and also as a solo artist. However, Mama Cass tragically passed away aged just 32, with the 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 – Mama Cass

Ellen Naomi Cohen, more famously known as Mama Cass, was born 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 biggr 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 times 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.”

Mama Cass – name

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 passed away.

Ellen Cohen was now Cass Elliot. Later on, she’d end up with the now legendary name “Mama Cass”, but we’ll get to that in a moment!

So, how did Mama Cass even get into music, one might ask?

First of all, she left her home for New York at age 17. She pursued a career in acting, though upon arriving in New York, she didn’t even have an high school diploma! She toured with the musical The Music Man for a short while, and also spent time working in the cloakroom of The Showplace in the West Village.

At this time, Mama Cass was all-in regarding the pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry. She performed at late-night “open mics” at area bars and, in 1962, she auditioned for a part in the Broadway production of I Can Get it for You Wholesale. Another young woman named Barbra Streisand got the part and, at 22, Cass decided to move to Washington to study at the American University.

This would be the big turning point for Cass, who at that point mostly saw herself as an actress more than a singer. That was about to change.