HOLLYWOOD HILLS—Mama Cass Elliot received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, October 3, near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Sycamore across the street from the Live Nation building.
Multiple speakers arrived for the ceremony which included former band mate Michelle Phillips. Phillips spoke about Cass stating, “she had the audience in the palm of her hand, she was witty and spontaneous. She was the first rocker girl to breach the weight barrier. She was the star of the show. She made every girl, every woman feel loved. She exuded love. No matter her fame she didn’t nor did her fans give a f-ing rat-a-s what she weighed.”
Cass Elliot’s Daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell, spoke during the middle of the ceremony and came onstage with Cass Elliot’s sister, Leah Kunkel. Elliot-Kugell stated, “that it is amazing to see so many people come to celebrate my mother and her achievements nearly five decades after she died.” Her daughter added, “of course she’s never really left us because her voice and the music that she was part of creating lives on today across the world.”
Kunkel said that she was surprised that it took so long for Cass Elliot to receive a star on the Walk of Fame and is glad that her sister’s daughter gets to see that her mother was inducted. She also shared how so many people were moved by her sister’s music stating that Cass changed their lives.
Fans lined up the streets behind the barriers for the ceremony many from the East Coast. Fans from Baltimore, Maryland, which is Mama Cass’s hometown, came to the ceremony holding signs stating how far they traveled.
Mama Cass’s star is the 2,735th star to be added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A total of 165 celebrities have been posthumously inducted with Mama Cass being one of them. She died July 29, 1974 at the age of 32.
Mama Cass is most famously known for her vocals in The Mamas and The Papas. Their first single “California Dreamin’” which was released in late 1965, was the #1 Billboard year-end 100 single of 1966.
