t/w drugs, heroin, pedophilia, domestic abuse

(Cat, photographed by James Jordan at a 1979 concert in Seattle, Washington)
February 14th, 1956 - June 17th, 1983

UNSOLVED

Catherine Nicole Carrie Erika Josephine Hart was an American musician, best known for being apart of the band Cat and The Hearts, wife of Josh McKnight and mother of actress, Feather Hart, and grandmother of actress, Alice Smith.

Cat was born on February 14th, 1956 in Savannah, Georgia, the fifth of eleven children. However, as many would say, she stood out among her siblings, as she was noted to have had a beautiful singing voice. At seven, she began singing in her church's choir. Every day, she'd get compliments on her voice.

In several diary entries, Cat would express that she wasn't happy singing and she would much rather be a painter. But, she knew her family wouldn't let her stop, so she kept singing. 

In 1972, Cat would sleep with her father's boss, trying to get her father a promotion. She ended up pregnant and would give birth to a baby girl that September, the late actress, Feather Sophia Hart. Feather, at least for the first few years of her life, would be raised as Cat's younger sister as to not bring shame to the family.

In 1973, Cat would start a band with her older sister, Ava, her younger sister, Mia, her best friend, Shelly Mitchell, and Shelly's younger sister, Candice "Candy" Mitchell. They called themselves 'Cat and the Hearts'. Cat was the lead singer, Ava was the bass player and lyricist, Shelly was the drummer and wrote the music, and Mia and Candy were the guitarists. At first they were just local girls in a band, but they were soon spotted by a big name in the music industry.

The entire Hart family moved to Los Angeles, California after the 1974 release of the bands second album, Hearts Know How To Live.

Between 1973 and 1983, Cat and The Hearts would release five studio albums-

Cat and The Hearts - 1973
Hearts Know How to Live - 1974
Cloud 9 - 1977
July Sunshine - 1980
Loving Darlings - 1982

Today, the band is best remembered for their song Undying Love from Cloud 9. At the time of Cat's death, the band was working on their sixth studio album, Californication, which would be released in 2009, with help from the Hunter triplets, daughters of Lavanda Mariana and Jack Hunter.

Anyway- back to Hearts Know How To Live. Cat would once again write in a diary entry how unhappy she was. She was a star, but she didn't want it. She'd much rather be painting. But she went on with how her life was. In 1975, Shelly and Cat would begin sorta dating. They'd go on dates, sleep together, but still tried to appear heterosexual.

A year later, Cat (properly) met fellow musician, Josh McKnight at a party thrown by Lavanda Mariana. Josh was another big star in the music industry, and Cat's manager told her that if she and Josh got together, romantically, they could get more fame. So, later that year, they'd front as a couple. In 1978, Josh and Cat got married. Later that year, they'd have a daughter, Stacy Lavanda Hart.

On the outside, they were the perfect little family, but inside, Josh was highly abusive towards Cat, both physically and mentally. It was around this time that she began abusing drugs and alcohol. It was also around this time that Feather learned the truth about her parentage. Feather was six years old and had been listening to another fight between Josh and Cat, when Josh said something about Feather being Cat's daughter. Feather asked for confirmation and Cat confirmed it.

In 1979, Cat and Josh would have another daughter, Kelly Catherine Hart. Rumors began to spread that Kelly didn't actually belong to Josh, as Cat had supposedly slipped up, mentioning a lover from her past, and the abuse grew worse. In 1980, Cat had her last child, Chrysanthemum Jolly Hart, usually just called Chrissy by her family.

Time went on and Cat's drug problem got worse, especially after the death of her friend, Lavanada Mariana, in October of 1982.

Finally, on June 17th, 1983, Cat was found dead by Josh after a heroin overdose. It's unknown if her death was murder, suicide or just an accident. The strange thing is, Cat had never used heroin before.

There are many theories surrounding her death. Some say she killed herself, some say it was just a tragic accident, but the majority, including Cat's daughters, seem to think that Josh murdered Cat. They've all been very outspoken about how their father abused their mother, though some of them admittedly barely remember it. Many say they remember hearing mostly about it from Feather, who died in 1999.

Josh McKnight has never been charged with any counts of murder or abuse, but many, still including his own daughters, believe he should be charged.

May Cat Hart rest in peace.