Cass Elliot’s Daughter Talks About the Star’s Bravery

Editor's Note: As we mark our Fifth Anniversary, we went back to look at our most-read stories since we launched in February 2017. This story came in third, with almost 375,000 readers, and it's no wonder. It's a poignant, fascinating piece about Cass Elliot's daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell--her memories of her mother and her search for her father--written by one of our favorites, Sheila Weller. Tomorrow, we'll publish the second most-read story and on Friday, the first. Stay tuned. 

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From 1965 to 1968, a pop singing group, The Mamas and The Papas, turned folk-rock into the music of the just-pre-psychedelic counterculture. With hit songs “Monday, Monday,” “Go Where You Wanna Go,” and the super-iconic “California Dreaming,” they seemed cannon-shot onto the airwaves when the country was still shaking off its post-Camelot conventions. Girls were wearing go-go boots, and boys were growing out their early-Beatles haircuts. No group had ever looked like them: two sexy Ichabod Cranes in funny hats (very tall leader John Phillips and tenor Denny Doherty); a pouty blond beauty (Michelle Phillips), and, most arrestingly, a magnetic fat girl: Cass Elliot.