Papa Denny Doherty dies at 66

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Denny Doherty of the 1960's pop group, The Mamas & The Papas, died Friday at his home in Mississauga, near Toronto, of an abdominal aneurysm. He was 66.

"He was one of the greatest tenors in rock 'n' roll," his former band mate, Michelle Phillips, told Rolling Stone.

Doherty's death leaves Phillips as the only surviving member of the group, known for such hits as "California Dreamin'," "Monday, Monday," and "Dream a Little Dream."

Mama Cass Elliott died at 32 in 1974, and Papa John Phillips died at 65 in 2001.

Doherty met Elliott in 1963, and joined her group, The Big Three. Doherty and Elliott then joined John and Michelle Phillips in The Magic Circle, which became The Mamas & The Papas in 1965, Rolling Stone said.

Their first single, "California Dreamin'," hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The group broke up shortly after the 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, which they headlined and helped organize.

Doherty appeared on Broadway in 1974 in "The Man in the Moon," and premiered the autobiographical musical "Dream a Little Dream" in Toronto in 2001.

He and John Phillips formed a new version of The Mamas & The Papas in 1982, featuring John's daughter, actress Mackenzie Phillips.