Are Michelle Phillips and John still married? Relationship explored as the Mamas & the Papas' last surviving member spotted in rare outing

Michelle Phillips, 81, is the sole surviving original member of The Mamas & the Papas. Along with her, the iconic vocal group had John Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Denny Doherty as the original artists.

Michelle (born Holly Michelle Gilliam) married John Phillips on December 31, 1962. Their romance was tumultuous, leading to a divorce in May 1969.

On June 11, Michelle Phillips was spotted in a rare public outing in Los Angeles, according to E! News. She was seen at a local gas station in the California city, refueling her Mercedes.

During her recent visit to the gas station, the legendary artist was seen in a comfortable look, wearing a black top and a pair of black pants layered with a colorful floral kimono. She kept her accessories minimal, with dangling earrings, black sunglasses, and black flats.

A look at Michelle Phillips and John Phillips' relationship

How did they meet?

John Phillips was married to his college sweetheart, Susan Adams when he met Michelle Phillips. He even shared two children with his ex-wife. The Mamas & the Papas members came across each other in the late 1950s. Their romance began in the late 1950s when Michelle was just a teenager, according to Mamamia.

Recalling falling in love with the guitarist, she shared with Vanity Fair in 2007,

"I fell in love with his talent, his poise, his ability to be the leader of the pack."

John expressed his affection for his partner in his 1986 autobiography, Papa John: An Autobiography (of the Mamas and the Papas), calling her "the quintessential California girl." He narrated Michelle as,

"She could look innocent, pouty, girlish, aloof, fiery."

They tied the knot

John divorced his first wife and married Michelle on December 31, 1962. In a 2022 conversation with Rolling Stone, Michelle Phillips spoke about her ex-husband and father.

She explained,

"John just charmed him like a bird off a tree, and they became very good friends. I remember my father saying, 'John, you’ve been to college. She hasn’t even finished high school.' And John said, 'Gil, I promise you I’ll teach her everything she has to know.'"

John started becoming jealous and overprotective

Over time, their love turned into a mess as Papa John became possessive of his wife. His feelings became so overbearing and controlled that he even included Michelle in his 1961 band named The New Journeyman.

The short-lived folk group was founded in the early 1960s. Often called the precursor to The Mamas & the Papas, John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, and Marshall Brickman were the original members. Later, Denny Doherty entered the group after Brickman left. Cass Elliot eventually joined the trio, leading to the formation of The Mamas & the Papas.

In 1986, a profile detailed the vocal group, explaining them as,

"John Phillips and Denny Doherty wrote the songs; Mama Cass had the great voice; Michelle Phillips had the blonde hair and the legs."

Michelle had an affair

Soon, the '60s foursome was affected by an affair between Michelle and Denny. Later, in 2007, Michelle recalled feelings she had for her bandmate during a chat with Vanity Fair.

She revealed:

"The four of us would sit around, saying, 'OK, you’re gonna sing the third,' and 'You’re gonna do the bop da bops,' and there’d be so much s**ual energy between Denny and me that we’d be playing footsie under the table, and Cass and John didn’t notice it."

Michelle Phillips also disclosed her relationship with Doherty during a conversation with Rolling Stone, adding how John came to know about the infidelity.

"John didn’t actually find us having s*x, but he did come downstairs, and I was sitting on Denny’s bed in my nightgown, feeding him candies. He said, 'You could do a lot of things to me, Mich, but you don’t f*ck my tenor.'"

This confrontation pushed John to write the 1966 song, I Saw Her Again. Doherty was this track's lead vocalist.

While John was infuriated seeing his wife with someone else, he often cheated on her with other women. While speaking with Rolling Stone, Michelle also chimed in,

"He wrote that song, Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon. I used to say to him, 'Yeah, John, and you’ve f*cked them all.'"

Later, Michelle Phillips also slept with Gene Clark, and this affair turned out to be a major chaos as John replaced her in their band. The news came as a major shock to her. She rushed to a recording and shouted at the band members,

"I’ll bury you all!"

Recounting that horrifying experience, she expressed to Vanity Fair,

"I sat in my car, shaking and despondent and crying hysterically. I had just been fired by my husband and my best friends. I thought my life was over."

Following the altercation, Michelle Phillips made her way back to the band. John and Michelle's marriage worsened due to domestic violence and physical abuse. While speaking with Vanity Fair, she confessed to being hospitalized.

John and Michelle got divorced

On February 12, 1968, the couple welcomed their daughter, Chynna Phillips. Soon, they divorced in May 1969. Their separation marked the end of The Mamas & the Papas, too.

While opening up to Rolling Stone, Michelle Phillips added,

"I walked out with three things. My daughter, her crib and the Tiffany lamp that I had to go back and steal, because I was so afraid of John."

Looking back at her and John's rocky marriage, she clarified,

"There was no love lost between John and I towards the end. At all. I saw how he had changed from that handsome, wholesome, all-American boy into this depravity of addiction. He was not the same person I had loved."

After her association with bands, Michelle shifted her career into acting. Her portfolio includes noteworthy TV shows such as Knots Landing, Second Chances, Spicy City, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

She also acted in notable films, including Let It Ride, Scissors, Joshua Tree (Army of One), and Independent Films.

In August 2021, Michelle shared her feelings about shifting into acting while chatting with Smashing Interviews Magazine, as cited by E! News. She explained,

"Transitioning into acting was so much fun. I wasn’t going to be a soloist, that’s for sure. And I wasn’t going to try and put together a new group. So it was acting."