Their sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips[2] – the songwriter and leader of the group – who adapted folk to the new beat style of the early 1960s.

The Mamas & the Papas released five studio albums and 17 singles, six of which made the Billboard top 10, and has sold close to 40 million records worldwide.

[6][7] The quartet spent the period from early spring to midsummer 1965 in the Virgin Islands "to rehearse and just put everything together", as John Phillips later recalled.

The audition was arranged by Barry McGuire, who had befriended Cass Elliot and John Phillips independently during the previous two years and who had recently signed with Dunhill.

[34] After consulting their attorney and record label, John, Elliot, and Doherty served Michelle with a letter expelling her from the group on June 28, 1966.

[35] After being introduced to the band by its producer, Lou Adler, Gibson soon took part in concerts in Forest Hills (New York City), Denver, Colorado, and Phoenix, Arizona;[36] television appearances including The Hollywood Palace on ABC; and recording sessions.

[37] While Gibson was a quick study and well-regarded, the three original members concluded she lacked her predecessor's "stage charisma and grittier edge", and Michelle Phillips was reinstated on August 23, 1966.

At a September 1966 concert at Fordham University in New York City, Duffy and Mason both noted that the group was clearly "high, drunk, or tripping.

[43] After completing their East Coast tour, the group started work immediately on its third album, The Mamas & The Papas Deliver, which was recorded in the autumn of 1966.

[47] The Mamas & the Papas rallied for its performance before 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl in August with Jimi Hendrix as the opener, which John and Michelle Phillips remembered as the apex of the band's career, saying, "There would never be anything quite like it again".

[53] While having his own studio gave John Phillips the autonomy he craved, it also removed the external discipline that may have been beneficial to a man who described himself as an "obsessive perfectionist".

[55][56][57] The Mamas & the Papas planned to give concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Olympia in Paris before taking time out on Majorca to "get the muse going again".

[58][59] When the group docked at Southampton on October 5, Elliot was arrested for stealing two blankets and a hotel key worth 10 guineas ($28) when in England the previous February.

[66][67] In an interview with Melody Maker, Elliot unilaterally announced that the Mamas & the Papas had disbanded, saying "We thought this trip would give the group some stimulation, but this has not been so.

For the second time, Dunhill Records returned to the band's earlier work for a single, releasing "Do You Wanna Dance" from the debut album in October 1968.

"[71] The group met its demise officially in early 1969, as John Phillips recalled, saying "Dunhill released us from our contracts and we were history, though we still owed the label another album.

[76] John Phillips wrote a collection of songs, which was arranged, rehearsed, and recorded throughout the year, depending on the availability of the other group members.

In 1986, John and Michelle Phillips were featured in the music video for the Beach Boys' second recording of "California Dreamin'", which appeared on the album Made in U.S. Denny Doherty was unavailable to participate.

John Phillips wrote most of the tracks on the album Romance Is on the Rise (1974) by his then wife Geneviève Waïte, which he also produced, and he co-wrote "Kokomo" (1988), which was a No.

Phillips was lost in a heroin addiction through much of the 1970s, a period that included his arrest and conviction in 1980 on a charge of conspiring to distribute narcotics for which he spent a month in jail in 1981.

The follow-up, Waiting for a Song (1974), was not released in the US, although a 2001 reissue by Varèse Sarabande gained wider distribution and is now available as a digital download.

Doherty hosted and voiced parts in the children's program Theodore Tugboat, and acted in various series, including 22 episodes of the drama Pit Pony.

[102] Doherty died on January 19, 2007, at his home in Mississauga, Ontario, from kidney failure, following surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Her film credits include The Last Movie (1971), Dillinger (1973), Valentino (1977), Bloodline (1979), The Man with Bogart's Face (1980), American Anthem (1986), Let It Ride (1989) and Joshua Tree (1993).

The New Mamas & the Papas was a by-product of John Phillips's desire to "round out the picture of reform" as he awaited sentencing on narcotics charges in 1980.

[107] He invited his children Jeffrey and Mackenzie, and Denny Doherty, to join him at the Fair Oaks Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, where he was undergoing rehabilitation.

The band's first performance was in March 1982, when it was praised for its verve and expertise, the impressive precision of the harmonies, and the "feeling ... of genuine celebration" on stage.

Lewis, who sang with the band from October 1986 through April 1987, replaced MacKenzie Phillips intermittently between 1987 and 1991 while she was pregnant, in drug rehab and dealing with personal issues.

"[128] Peter Fitzpatrick's stage musical, Flowerchildren: The Mamas & Papas Story, was produced by Magnormos in Melbourne, Australia, in 2011 and revived in 2013.

Studio albums The Grammy Awards is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry.