The Mamas & the Papas singer Denny Doherty dead at 66

Denny Doherty, who was an original member of the Mamas & the Papas, died on Friday (January 19th) at his home in Mississauga, Ontario. Doherty, who was 66 years old, had been battling some unspecified health issues late last year and underwent surgery last month, which forced him to begin kidney dialysis treatments. His sister Frances Arnold told the Canadian Press that Doherty was released from the hospital last week, and even though he sounded tired when they last spoke, no one expected him to go so quickly.

His groupmate Michelle Phillips is also in disbelief. She talked to Doherty last Thursday (January 18th) and said, "He was extremely funny and jovial as always, and he was just my same old Denny. I'm still in shock that he didn't survive this." Phillips is now the sole surviving member of the Mamas & the Papas -- "Mama" Cass Elliot died in 1974, and John Phillips went in 2001.

Larry Leblanc, the Canadian editor of Billboard magazine, said, "Everybody used to think that John Phillips, who wrote the songs, was also the main voice of the group, but it wasn't -- it was the angelic voice of Denny Doherty. He was often overlooked but it was really his voice that carried the group; also Cass was a formidable singer."

Doherty, whose two wives predeceased him, is survived by his sisters Frances, Denise, and Joan; his brother Joe; and his children John, Emberly, and Jessica. Jessica, who was Doherty's oldest child, said, "John and Emberly and I are all very mindful that we've lost somebody, but that he had a lot of people whose lives he touched and that they miss him, too." She also said that public memorials would likely take place in Los Angeles and in Canada.

Doherty was born November 29th, 1940. He began his career in a group called the Colonials, which became the Halifax Three. While in that group, the husband-and-wife team of John and Michelle Phillips heard Doherty sing and invited him to join the group they were forming, along with Cass Elliot. They rose to fame in 1966 with their first single, "California Dreamin," and had continued success with hits including the Number One "Monday, Monday," and the Top Five hits "I Saw Her Again," "Words Of Love," "Dedicated To The One I Love," and "Creeque Alley," and five other Top Forty singles. However, the run ended in 1968, when the group broke up because Elliot wanted to go solo.

Along with the hit music, the short history of the Mamas & the Papas is also marked by a number of intra-group relationships, including the marriage of John and Michelle; an affair between Michelle and Doherty, which caused John to divorce her and throw her out of the band for a time; and the unrequited love that Cass felt for Denny.

The band did re-form briefly in 1971, and again reformed in the 1980s as a touring act, with new members.

Following the breakup of the Mamas & the Papas, Doherty launched an acting career in Canada, and he also did all the voices for the children's TV series Theodore Tugboat. In addition, he wrote a biographical play about the Mamas & the Papas titled Dream A Little Dream that had successful runs in Toronto and off-Broadway in New York City.

The Mamas & the Papas were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and into the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame in 2000. Doherty was also inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 1996.
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