All About Cass Elliot’s Daughter Owen Elliot-Kugell

Owen Elliot-Kugell was just 7 years old when her mother, Mamas & the Papas singer Cass Elliot, died of a heart attack at the age of 32. Despite not spending much time with her mother, Elliot-Kugell has since devoted her life to making sure Elliot’s life and musical legacy are not forgotten.

“I can’t tell you the number of people over the years who have told me how much my mother’s music and who she was influenced them and made a huge difference in their lives,” Elliot-Kugell said. Diversity in 2022

Elliot had a resurgence in early 2023 when her 1969 song “Make Your Own Kind of Music” went viral on TikTok. “It’s the best thing I could have ever imagined,” Elliot-Kugell said Rolling stone to hear his mother’s voice on countless videos through the video sharing platform. “I’m a total TikTok addict and I especially like the context in which people are using the song because it’s completely accurate in the whole attitude.”

Elliot-Kugell hoped Elliott’s viral moment would keep her life and work “prominent and alive” in the modern music world and find a new generation of fans.

“What people associate with my mom is the idea of ​​triumph over adversity,” she explained. “When people are told ‘No, you can’t do something’ or ‘No, you’re too fat’, people will often just walk away. But my mom didn’t. She was a woman in a man’s world who paved the way for other great women. And that’s important.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Owen Elliot-Kugell.

She was born in 1967

Owen Vanessa Elliot at the funeral of mom Cass Elliot on August 2, 1974.

Phil Roach/Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com/Alamy

Elliot gave birth to her only child on April 26, 1967. At the time, Elliot-Kugella’s paternity was not publicly announced.

Elliot has long wanted someone to love and be loved in return, and the birth of Elliot-Kugell made that dream a reality. “Even the name she chose for me emphasized her desire for a creature she loves. She called me Owen because I was her ‘own,’ Elliot-Kugell recalled to NextTribe in 2018, adding that her mother called her ‘Owenski.’

Elliot also wrote a song called “Lady Love” dedicated to Elliot-Kugell. Before singing, Elliot says, “I would like to sing this song especially for my little daughter.”

She was raised by her aunt

Owen Elliot-Kugell and Leah Kunkel attend the posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony for “Mama” star Cass Elliott on October 3, 2022.

VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty

After Elliot died in 1974 at the age of 32, Elliot-Kugell was raised by her aunt Leah Kunkel and her husband Ross. Elliot-Kugell was with her grandmother when Elliot was found dead in London. She was only 7 years old then.

“I have a very, very clear memory of her telling me my mom died,” Elliot-Kugell said Rolling stone moment. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, well, they’re wrong. They are wrong. She’s just traveling. She will be back. He always does.’ ”

According to Elliot-Kugell, she had a “dramatic” realization of how much her life would change after Elliot’s funeral. “They asked me who I wanted to ride home with, my grandmother or my aunt and uncle,” she said. “It hit me: I better get used to my new life. I don’t have my mother anymore. It was a very defining, very sad moment of realization.”

Elliot-Kugell was raised by her aunt and uncle and spent her time between Los Angeles and Massachusetts. Still, Elliot-Kugell said Elliot’s influence never left her. “These two amazing women made me who I am [I] alone today,” she wrote on Instagram in 2020 alongside a photo of herself, Elliot and Leah. “We are a long line of strong women. May we reign long.”

He has “vivid” memories of his mother

Owen Elliot-Kugel attends the Hollywood Walk of Fame unveiling ceremony honoring late singer Mama Cass Elliot posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 3, 2022.

John Salangsang/Shutterstock

Elliot-Kugell said Diversity that her memories of her mother “are not numerous, but they are alive”.

Since much of the time she spent with her mom was recorded, she can relive those moments through old clips.

“I have a treasure trove of written and video interviews, including one from The Dinah Shore Show, when she brought me with her. Seeing us interact was incredibly meaningful to me. I see her stroking my head, hugging me because she knows I’m shy,” Elliot-Kugell explained. “When I learn these things, I can feel them on a cellular level that they’re true. I can just tell instinctively. I’ve had to learn about her and I’m always looking for more information.”

Michelle Philips helped her find her father

Owen Elliot-Kugell and Michelle Phillips at the Anaheim Convention Center on January 18, 2012 in Anaheim, California.

David Livingston/Getty

When Elliot-Kugell was a teenager, she asked her mother’s bandmate Michelle Philips to help her find her father. Phillips said vanity fair that she started asking her musician friends for information and it took her about a year to track him down. After they connected, Phillips sent Elliot-Kugell a plane ticket to meet her father, a touring bass player named Chuck Day.

According to Elliot-Kugell, Philips served as her surrogate mother throughout her life. “There were times when I was really upset about things in my personal life, and I really relied on Michelle,” she said. “She was a mother to me in a way that would definitely make my mom laugh.”

She helped her mother get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Owen Elliot-Kugel attends the Hollywood Walk of Fame unveiling ceremony honoring late singer Mama Cass Elliot posthumously with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 3, 2022.

John Salangsang/Shutterstock

In 2022, Elliot-Kugell decided to ensure her mother a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. ”

I just want people to remember my mother’s legacy,” Elliot-Kugell said Diversity her quest. “This honor is such a great achievement. I’m sure she would be pleased. A hundred years from now, that star will still be here. If my mom knew the effect she had on so many people’s lives by making them feel good, that would make her happy.”

She wrote a book about her mom

Cass Elliot and daughter Owen Vanessa Elliot.

Mamas and Papas Music Instagram

Elliot-Kugell’s Memoirs, My mom, Cass, is set to be published by Hachette Books in May 2024. According to Elliot-Kugell, the book has been more than a decade in the making and includes not only her story, but her mother’s as well. “I wanted to tell her story for a very, very long time, and I didn’t know how to do it,” she explained to Rolling stone. “I’m still not really sure about it because it’s so new to me. I never would have thought I could do this in any way, shape or form without a ghostwriter.”

To put the pieces together, Elliot-Kugell relied heavily on print and TV interviews with her mom, as well as stories she’s heard throughout her life. “There is such a sense of fulfillment and real satisfaction as a result of all of this,” she said. “It’s a little weird to say, but I feel like, in a way, I know her better now,” she said.

Elliot-Kugell revealed that not only was Elliot an extremely talented musician and an important figure in the ’60s music scene, she was also way ahead of her time. “She was a pioneer, a successful woman in a business dominated by men. A cult artist, she was the most faithful friend, of whom she had many,” Elliot-Kugell said in a media statement. “Most importantly, she was a single mother who just wanted someone of her own. That was me.”

She is a musician

Weird Al Yankovic, Susanna Hoffs and Owen Elliot-Kugel during The Nuggets 50th Anniversary All-Star compilation album celebration on May 19, 2023 in Glendale, California.

Scott Dudelson/Getty

Elliot-Kugell, like her mother, is a talented singer and says she’s been “around music” for most of her life, even jumping on stage with her rock star offspring Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips to cover Mamas & the Papas “Dedicated to the one I love.” (Elliot-Kugell and Carnie are good friends.)

He has two children

Owen Elliot-Kugell attends his mother “Mom” Cass Elliott’s posthumous star ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 3, 2022.

VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty

Elliot-Kugell married Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Jack Kugell in 1991 and the couple have two children, son Noah and daughter Zoe. The family lives in the San Fernando Valley in California.

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Source: HIS Education