Michael Nesmith, Monkees singer and songwriter, dies at 78
The Monkees singer and guitarist Mike Nesmith dies ‘from natural causes’ at home in LA aged 78 – leaving Micky Dolenz as the last surviving member of the 1960s band
Michael Nesmith, a singer and guitarist for the 1960s group The Monkees, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 78His family confirmed his passing in a statement to TMZNesmith once fought for control of The Monkees, a made-for-television rock ‘n’ roll band, wanting it to be a real groupThe group released several hits in the 1960s, including Daydream Believer and Valerie, eventually rivaling the success of the BeatlesAfter the group disbanded, Nesmith helped launch MTV
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Michael Nesmith, a singer and guitarist for the 1960s group The Monkees, died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 78.
His family announced his passing in a statement, reading: ‘With infinite love, we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully of natural causes.’
Jason Elzy, the head of public relations for Rhino Records, told the New York Times the cause of his death was heart failure.
Nesmith is now the third of the four members of the band, whose hits include Daydream Believer and Valerie, to have died. David Jones died in 2012, and Peter Tork died in 2019.
Their band, the Monkees, once rivaled the Beatles with their consecutive hits, as Nesmith tried to get them to be a real band, and not just one that was made for television.
He was at one point considered the only ‘real musician’ among the team, a claim that he has disputed.
Nesmith is survived by three children from his first marriage, Christian, Jonathan and Jessica Nesmith, and a son from a relationship with Nurit Wilde, Jason Nesmith, as well as two grandchildren.
Michael Nesmith, (pictured left last month at the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont, Illinois) was the singer and guitarist for the 1960s group The Monkees (pictured right in their heyday), died on Friday at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 78
Hey, Hey, It’s the Monkees: He and sole surviving member Micky Dolenz, (left), performed together just last month
Mickey Dolenz tweeted on Friday that he was ‘heartbroken’ by Nesmith’s death and shared this photo of them embracing
After the group disbanded, Nesmith (pictured in 2014) formed the First National Band, a country rock group
Last month, Nesmith and sole survivor Micky Dolenz performed their final show together at the Greek Theater in Illinois.
Following the announcement of his death, Dolenz tweeted: ‘I’m heartbroken. I’ve lost a dear friend and partner.
‘I’m so grateful that we could spend the last couple of months together doing what we loved best – singing, laughing and doing shtick. I’ll miss it all so much, especially the shtick.
‘Rest in peace, Nez.’
The group’s and Nesmith’s manager also confirmed his death in a tweet, writing: ‘It is with deep sadness that I mark the passing of Michael Nesmith.
‘We shared many travels and projects together over the course of 30 years, which culminated in a Monkees farewell tour that wrapped up only a few weeks ago.
‘That tour was a true blessing for so many. And in the end I know that Michael was at peace with his legacy which included songwriting, producing, acting, direction and so many innovative ideas and concepts.
‘I am positive the brilliance he captured will resonate and offer the love and light towards which he always moved.’
Following the announcement of his death, Dolenz took to Twitter to express his grief for his lost friend
Nesmith was a struggling 23-year-old singer and songwriter after being discharged from the Air Force when he saw the advertisement in Variety seeking ‘four insane boys’ for ‘acting roles in new TV series.’
The television series wound up being The Monkees, a show created by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider about a rock ‘n’ roll group a the height of Beatlemania.
The four band members – Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz, David Jones and Mike Nesmith – were all recruited through similar ads in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
On the show, Nesmith had a deadpan comedy style that contributed to the slapstick humor of the show, which was an immediate hit among children.
He also wrote and produced some of the group’s songs, earning him the reputation of being the only ‘real’ musician in the group – a claim he disputed in his 2017 memoir, Infinite Tuesday.
‘It would always seem wildly ironic to me that I was the one given credit in the press for being the “only musician” in the Monkees,’ he wrote. ‘Nothing was further from the truth.’
Nesmith is pictured in 1967 on the set of The Monkees NBC show
The quartet was created for a television show about a rock ‘n’ roll group. The group, comprising Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz (top), and David Jones and Mike Nesmith (bottom), kept releasing hit after hit and rivaled the success of the Beatles
During the band’s time together, Nesmith fought for artistic control, pushing for the band to be more than just a made-for-television group, as they released hit after hit, even eventually rivaling the success of the Beatles.
Their first two albums, The Monkees and More of the Monkees were back-to-back No. 1 LPs, holding the top of the chart for 31 consecutive weeks in 1966 to 1967, according to Variety.
The group logged two more No. 1 collections by the end of 1967.
Their first big hit was Last Train to Clarksville, which started a run of five consecutive top singles for the band in the United States.
But at first on the show, the group members did not actually play their instruments, which upset Nesmith to the point where he punched a hole in a wall.
Speaking about the incident years later, Nesmith said: ‘We were kids with our own taste in music and were happier performing songs we liked and/or wrote, than songs that were handed to us.’
The band’s NBC series aired for two seasons, and earned an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1967.
The group eventually succeeded in ousting their supervisor, and took control of their records and song choices, but they worked as a four-man group on only one album in 1967 before they disbanded.
The Monkees posed for a promotional picture shoot in 1967 for their eponymously named show
Nesmith, right, once tried to get creative control of the band, hoping to get them to be more than a made-for-television group
Nesmith, right in the beanie, had the deadpan comedy style on the show, after responding to an ad for actors
Nesmith largely resisted reunion tours after the group disbanded, with rumors circulating since the 1960s about inter-band tensions between him and Peter Tork, but in 2012, the guitarist took part in a reunion tour and performed on the 2016 album Good Times!
His tour with Dolenz was postponed from 2018, when Nesmith underwent quadruple bypass surgery.
After The Monkees disbanded, Nesmith formed the First National Band, a country rock group, with whom he had a top-40 hit Joanne.
He also co-wrote, starred in and produced Elephant Parts, an hourlong 1981 collection of music video and comedy skits that won the Grammy for Video of the Year.
The project would inspire Warner Television to create MTV.
Then in 1979, he and William Dear developed a TV show, called PopClips for Nickelodeon, a new channel for children’s programming that was looking to add teenagers to its audience. The show played nothing but music videos, introduced by VJ.
