Cass Elliot: Iconic Mamas & Papas singer's legacy was tainted by one question 'did she choke on a sandwich?'

Cass Elliot, born Ellen Naomi Cohen, was an actress and singer who found mainstream success as a member of the popular folk-rock psych-pop group, The Mamas & the Papas, before her untimely death in 1974. Comprised four members -- two mamas and two papas -- the group became famous for their vocals, which included layered harmonies, in addition to their sound, which many perceived as being an important part of the counterculture movements of the '60s. Specifically, member John Phillips, the group's leader as well as one of their songwriters, was seen as pioneering the shift from traditional folk music sounds to something far more contemporary.

The group already had music out by the time they provided backing vocals for contemporary Christian music pioneer Barry McGuire on his 1965 album 'This Precious Time'. While their own single 'Go Where You Wanna Go' failed to chart, their follow-up single 'California Dreamin' would go on to be a success. Incidentally, the track, penned by John Phillips and bandmate Michelle Phillips in 1963 while they were part of a folk group called New Journeymen, was originally sung by McGuire with The Mamas & the Papas providing backing vocals before the group released their own version in 1965. This version didn't do too well initially, but after a radio station in Boston played the track, it became a nationwide sensation, making its chart debut in 1966. The song continued to find fame in the decades that followed, landing spots in films and commercials.

As the group began to climb the charts and find widespread fame, it became increasingly apparent that there was a certain fixation on Elliot. Unlike other performers of her time, Elliot was not someone who matched the 'ideal' standards of beauty, which often dictated that women had to be thin to be seen as beautiful. Elliot, however, evidently did not subscribe to that belief, and, on the contrary, wore her size as a part of her identity. The first musical group she was a part of was called The Triumvirate, which featured banjoist and singer Tim Rose and singer John Brown.

The group was renamed to the Big 3 when Brown was replaced by James Hendricks in 1963. With this lineup, Elliot released 'Winken, Blinken, and Nod', and the following year they appeared on an open mic night at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, now billed as 'Cass Elliot and the Big 3'. After a few more stints and a few other groups, Elliot finally met the New Journeyman, eventually joining the group and later forming The Mamas & the Papas, named after Elliot had a spark of inspiration while watching the Hells Angels in an appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'.

Elliot was soon widely known for her impressive vocals and range. Speaking to Rolling Stone, she once confirmed an interesting tale about how her vocals developed, sharing, "It's true, I did get hit on the head by a pipe that fell down and my range was increased by three notes. They were tearing this club apart in the islands, revamping it, putting in a dance floor. Workmen dropped a thin metal plumbing pipe and it hit me on the head and knocked me to the ground. I had a concussion and went to the hospital. I had a bad headache for about two weeks and all of a sudden I was singing higher. It's true. Honest to God." But reports soon surfaced that this story was concocted to hide the truth of why Elliot was not allowed to join the New Journeyman for a long time: John Phillips thought she was 'too fat'.

This, sadly, would come to be a defining characteristic of Elliot's career, as well as her death. The fatphobia ran rampant in tabloids, and as loud as the praise was for Elliot's voice, so too were the voices of her detractors who thought she was 'too fat' to be famous. She was scrutinized every step of the way, her weight and diet constant fodder for the tabloids. She was accused of 'being a bad influence'. The singer, for the most part, didn't engage with the chatter. Instead, her humor and charm were what caught people's attention when she made an appearance on a show. But no matter how classy Elliott turned out to be, the fatphobia was all that followed her. So much so that when she died, the public decided it was probably because she ate herself to death.

That horrifically insensitive story stemmed from one source: a doctor who saw it fit to declare to the world that Elliot died from choking on a sandwich. In reality, the sandwich found in her room was uneaten, her autopsy had not even been completed at that point, and when it was finally completed, it was discovered that she passed away in her sleep from heart failure. Elliot, only 32 when she died, was soon ridiculed in her death for being fat, just as she was in life. And this was simply made worse when it later came to light that the singer had collapsed earlier the same year in the television studio of 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson' just before a performance. It was chalked up to exhaustion. This was not, however, the earliest indication of trouble.

In 1968, Elliot debuted solo as a headliner in Las Vegas to some of the harshest reviews she'd ever received. Her voice was evidently not in its best shape, and the audience eventually walked out. As it turns out, the singer had a raging fever and had lost her voice just before the show. But this was just the surface of it: to prepare for her debut, Elliot went on a six-month crash diet, losing 100 pounds. It led to a stomach ulcer and throat issues, which was treated with milk and cream, eventually helping her regain 50 pounds, but resulted in her being confined to her bed for three weeks before the show. These crash diets are what doctors later linked her eventual heart failure to. Among the many reviews for the show, one from Newsweek read, "Like some great ocean liner embarking on an ill-fated maiden voyage, Mama Cass slid down the waves and sank to the bottom." Elliot would later develop a heroin addiction as the Las Vegas stint came to an end, something she found so embarrassing, it would lead her down a depressive spiral.

For all her wit and charm, as it turned out, Elliot was only human. One on whom the intense fatphobia took its toll. And what it ultimately accomplished was to push one of the pioneering folk singers to the edge, forcing her health and her voice to crumble. And instead of recognizing what it was doing to her, the general public simply drove the knife further in. Against these odds, Elliot continued to sing, becoming a voice for the unheard and trampled. And her reward for being a source of light to her fans was to be turned into a joke upon her death by those who thought she was 'too fat' to be treated with dignity.