July 19, 2022 – Theme Week Day 2

We’re continuing our theme week on Urban Legends in Music! Today we’re talking about the urban legend surrounding the death of Mama Cass Elliot. She died in London in 1974, and shortly after a rumor started that she choked to death on a ham sandwich. The story spread after  the first doctor who examined her spoke to the press and speculated on her cause of death, before an autopsy had even been performed. The police also told reporters that a partially eaten sandwich was found in her room, and that it might have been relevant to her cause of death. However, after the autopsy, it was determined that she died of heart failure and no food was found in her windpipe.
Mama Cass is best known for being a member of the Mamas & the Papas, which formed in LA in 1965. The group decided on their name after being inspired by the Hells Angels, who called their female associates “mamas”. The Mamas & the Papas would go on to release 5 studio albums and sell around 40 million records worldwide.
After the group broke up, Mama Cass had a successful solo career, releasing 5 solo albums and touring around the U.S. and Europe. When she died, she had just finished a two-week engagement at the Palladium in London. Her shows were sell outs and she received standing ovations every night. The apartment she died in was owned by singer/songwriter Harry Nillson. Just 4 years later, The Who’s drummer Keith Moon died in the very same room, also at the age of 32. Nilsson was understandably distraught, and sold the property to Moon’s bandmate, Pete Townshend.
Mama Cass was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 for her work with The Mamas & the Papas. Learn more here.