Scott McKenzie (born Philip Scott Blondheim 10 January 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is a singer best known for his 1967 hit of San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) (later featured in the movie Forrest Gump). In1986 McKenzie began singing with a new version of The Mamas and The Papas. By 1998 he had retired from the road version of The Mamas and Papas, though he did appear at the Los Angeles tribute concert for John Phillips in 2001. He grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with the son of one of his mother's friends, John Phillips. ...show more

Scott McKenzie (born Philip Scott Blondheim 10 January 1939, Jacksonville, Florida) is a singer best known for his 1967 hit of San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) (later featured in the movie Forrest Gump). In1986 McKenzie began singing with a new version of The Mamas and The Papas. By 1998 he had retired from the road version of The Mamas and Papas, though he did appear at the Los Angeles tribute concert for John Phillips in 2001. He grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with the son of one of his mother's friends, John Phillips.

In the mid 1950s, he sang briefly with Tim Rose in a high school group called The Singing Strings, and later with Phillips, Mike Boran and Bill Cleary formed a doo wop band, The Abstracts. In New York, The Abstracts became The Smoothies and recorded two singles with Decca Records, produced by Milt Gabler. In 1961 Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed The Journeymen, which recorded three albums for Capitol Records. After disbanding The Journeymen in 1964, they discussed forming a group called The Mamas & the Papas.

McKenzie wanted to perform on his own, so Phillips formed the group with Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips, his second wife. The group soon moved to California. Two years later, McKenzie followed from New York and signed with Lou Adler's Ode Records. Phillips wrote and produced "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" for McKenzie, which was released in 1967. ...show less