Leah Kunkel obit

Leah Kunkel Dies: Singer and Sister of Mama Cass

 

She was not on the list.

Leah Kunkel, the younger sister of Cass Elliott, and herself an in-demand session vocalist who recorded with such artists as Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Art Garfunkel, Carly Simon, Stephen Bishop and many others, and released a pair of solo albums for Columbia Records, died today (November 26, 2024). Her passing, at age 76, was announced by Cass’ daughter, Owen-Elliot Kugell, whom Kunkel raised after the death of her sister in 1974. At the time, Kunkel was married to drummer Russ Kunkel.

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Leah Rachel Kunkel,” read the post signed by Owen along with Nathaniel Kunkel, Leah and Russ Kunkel’s son.

From the liner notes of one of her solo albums: Leah Cohen was born on June 15, 1948, schooled in the Greenwich Village folk scene where she hung with Fred Neil and John Sebastian. When she visited her older sister, Cass, in Los Angeles, she signed as a songwriter to Trousdale Music and married old flame Russ Kunkel in 1968.

Leah Kunkel provided the background vocals for James Taylor’s cover of “Handy Man,” a #4 hit in 1977.

Bishop offered a lengthy tribute: “It’s hard for me to write this, but one of my oldest and dearest friends, Leah Kunkel, has passed away. Some people should live forever, she was one of those people.”

Bishop added, “Leah helped to give me my big break by giving a tape of my songs to Art Garfunkel. She always championed my music and believed in me when I needed it most. We co-wrote ‘Under the Jamaican Moon,’ together and I’ll always cherish that collaboration. We should have written more songs together. Her talents as a solo artist—her songwriting and her beautiful voice—were remarkable, and yet I feel she was so underrated.

“The good people seem to be leaving us too soon. Rest in peace, Leah—I love you, you’re my friend for life and will always be in my heart. With love, sunshine and music, Your forever friend, Stephen.”

Kunkel graduated from Smith College in 1988, years after her recording career, and went on to earn a law degree. She was in private practice for more than 25 years, focusing on entertainment law.

Val Garay, who produced Kunkel’s debut album, called her “one of my dearest friends of many many years,” adding “she was a wonderful mother and a great lawyer in her later years. Leah, you will be missed more than you’ll ever know!”

Jimmy Webb wrote, “[Leah] was always a first choice for me when we needed a female voice. You can hear her on many of my projects. She had a big heart and a brilliant mind. I loved Leah. She was a force of nature.”

[My Mama, Cass, a memoir written by her daughter, Owen Elliot-Kugell, arrived May 7, 2024, via Hachette Books, 50 years after the singer died at age 32. The title is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here, where it was published by Omnibus Press.]