Last Surviving Monkees Member Micky Dolenz Makes Heartbreaking Confession About Bandmates

Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of The Monkees, made a heartbreaking confession about his late bandmates 60 years after the sitcom that started it all premiered.

In an interview with Billboard published on September 3, Dolenz, 81, revealed what he missed most about Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork. (Nesmith died in 2021, while Tork and Jones died in 2019 and 2012, respectively.)

“The thing I miss the most is just not being able to call somebody and just say hi,” he shared. “We were really like brothers, ultimately … And, like brothers, we fought sometimes, but you can’t go through something like we did and not be that close to one another.”

With Dolenz kicking off his “60 Years of the Monkees” show on September 8 and 9 in Phoenix — as well as a September 12 show in Los Angeles on the actual 60th anniversary of The Monkees premiering on NBC — their memory will certainly continue to be honored.

“It’s almost like they’ve never left ’cause I’m with them every night,” he said. “I’m seeing them on the screen. I’m hearing them. People talk about it all the time.”

Related

Bruce Kessler, 'The Monkees' Director & Race Car Driver, Dies at 88

The Monkees aired for two seasons from 1966 to 1968. Although the fictional band was inspired by The Beatles, its stars released a real, self-titled album one month after the show premiered. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with the track “Last Train to Clarksville” becoming their first No. 1 single. Their songs “I’m a Believer” and “Daydream Believer” later soared to No. 1 as well.

TV producers Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson created the musical sitcom through their production company, Raybert Productions.

During a 2022 interview with Best Classic Bands, Dolenz recalled meeting his The Monkees castmates.

“The first time the four of us were together as the Monkees was at the wardrobe fitting,” he shared. “But I didn’t get enormously invested in the whole thing. I knew it was a pilot. It was late November 1965. I was still going to school when we did the pilot. I was kind of encouraged to be kind of goofy and improvise and be unusual.”

Delenz added, “It obviously clicked, and it had chemistry.” (Which is definitely an understatement!)

The Monkees, streaming on Tubi and The Roku Channel