Davy Jones of The Monkees Dead at 66

And then there were three.

Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz – The Monkees were a made-for-television pop band that held a great fan base long after their TV show ended. Today, those fans received the sad news that Davy Jones had died in his home of a massive heart attack in his sleep. He was 66.

Jones, born in Manchester, England, was the lead singer of of the group. He said he got his start in music after he appeared on an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show with a theater troupe he was in. That same episode was the night of the Beatles first appearance. Jones said of that night, “I watched the Beatles from the side of the stage, I saw the girls going crazy, and I said to myself, ‘This is it. I want a piece of that!'”

Jones was a member of The Monkees from 1965-1971. In 2011, they did a 45th Anniversary Tour. The Monkees were known for such hits as “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Daydream Believer”, “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone”, “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, “I’m a Believer”, and of course “The Theme From the Monkees”.

People used to scoff at the idea of a band put together by television producers having hit songs. Now it’s commonplace for acts to be put together based on demographics and marketing studies.

Trivia: Singer David Bowie was born David Jones, and was billed as Davy Jones in the early days of his career. He changed his name to avoid confusion with the massively popular Monkee.

“Last Train to Clarksville” was a hit for The Monkees in 1966.

You can sign Davy Jones memorial guestbook here: http://www.famousdead.com/davy-jones/

Upon news of the passing of Jones, people took to Twitter to express their dismay and sadness.