- When The Mamas and the Papas were in the Bahamas and could not afford the flight back to the US, she won 17 straight shoots at a craps/table, coming out with enough money to buy first-class airplane tickets for everybody.
- The wildly popular '60s pop/folk group The Mamas and the Papas ("Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'" were their biggest hits), comprised Michelle and her husband at the time, John Phillips, along with Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty. Michelle was temporarily kicked out of the group (replaced by Jill Gibson) after it was discovered she was having an affair with the other "Papa" (Doherty), whom Cass had a crush on. However, the fans missed her and she was soon brought back, but the damage had been done and the group wasted no time in splitting up.
- Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 (as a member of The Mamas and the Papas).
- Grew up partly in Mexico City, where her father attended college on the GI Bill.
- Sang at the funeral of Denny Doherty, whose death made her the only surviving member of The Mamas and the Papas. (2007)
- When she was five and her sister was six, their mother died and they and their father moved to Mexico City.
- Three children: Chynna Phillips (with John Phillips, born 1968), Austin Hines (with Grainger Hines, born 1982) and Aron Wilson (foster son she raised with Geoffrey Tozer, adopted 1988).
- Ranked #23 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll
- Only wife of Dennis Hopper to not have a child with him.
- Joined the cast of Knots Landing (1979) in 1987, as Anne; however, Donna Mills was already the show's "main villainess" at the time, hence, she rejoined the cast after Mills' departure.
- Mother-in-law of William Baldwin and Lois Kessel.
- Former stepmother of Jeffrey Phillips & Mackenzie Phillips.
- It is often incorrectly stated that she was married to Grainger Hines, father of her son Austin Hines. They just lived together. Phillips was also never legally married to Steven Zax, with whom she had an 18-year relationship lasting until his death.
- On 12/2/87 she and Geoffrey Tozer were arrested in Amarillo, TX, for marijuana possession after being pulled over for speeding.
- Born to Joyce Leon, née Poole, an accountant, and Gardner Burnett Gilliam, a merchant marine.
- Engaged to plastic surgeon Steven Zax from 1999 until his death in 2017. They never married.
- De-facto stepmother of Steven Zax Jr. and Paris Zax.
- Lived with Geoffrey Tozer from 1987 until at least 1996. They announced their engagement in 1988, but never married.
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