Michael Nesmith, courtesy.

When I last spoke to the Monkees’ Micky Dolenz, just a few months ago, he’d told me that rumors of the band’s “farewell tour” were overblown; that he and Michael Nesmith would go on until they couldn’t go on any more. That statement seems more powerful today. Michael Nesmith, a guitarist, singer-songwriter and a creative force, has passed away Friday at 78 years old.

The announcement was made by his manager and Monkees historian Andrew Sandoval. The cause of death has not been announced.

“We shared many travels and projects together over the course of 30 years,” Sandoval wrote on social media.

The Monkees received their initial success with their hit TV show, which launched them to superstardom in 1965. Nesmith and Dolenz, as well as Davy Jones (who died in 2012) and Peter Tork (who passed away in 2019), learned improv by watching the Marx Brothers and Laurel & Hardy for the improved rather than scripted show. The plot of the show, about a band that wanted to be The Beatles, yet never succeeding, is what endeared countless fans, Nesmith and Dolenz have said. At the same time, the show portrayed the band living in a beach house, with a nice car and surrounded by women.

“‘How did they do it?’” Nesmith joked at a 2020 SF Sketchfest tribute. “The magic of Hollywood.”

The Monkees did in fact play instruments from the outset, but Nesmith was the most talented and the only one writing his own songs. Nesmith said unlike other great bands of the ’60s that often relied on the help of heavy-hitting session musicians, The Wrecking Crew, The Monkees never did. At the time he was cast on the show, he had been working at The Troubador in Los Angeles as a house musician. The four musicians grew to be close friends, despite some infighting over the future of the band. Dolenz and Nesmith had an incredible bond, however. While Tork and Nesmith may have had their differences, Nesmith felt a great sense of loss when Tork passed away.

Micky Dolenz (L) and Michael Nesmith of the Monkees perform at San Jose Civic in San Jose on Sept. 15, 2021.

“We became brothers; we became a band,” Nesmith said at the Sketchfest tribute.

Nesmith and Dolenz shared an early connection because of their love for country music. Nesmith was a Dallas native while Dolenz’s mother was from Austin. The Monkees’ early songs were sung metaphorically “around the campfire.”

“We just fell into what I call the Everly Monkees, because I was a huge Everly Brothers fan. I immediately fell into those harmonic blends with him,” Dolenz said earlier this year. “He would sing melody, and I would sing the third above, or vice versa. I would do a melody, and he would do a high harmony. We would just hit our stride with this blend. I sang with David and I sang with Peter, but with … Nez and I, it really stood out. We had this really wonderful connection. … We were doing that right from the get-go if you listen to some of the early Monkees’ stuff like [1966’s] ‘Papa Genes Blues.’”

Nesmith left the Monkees in 1970 to pursue a solo career in country and folk music, with his First National Band. He also wrote the Linda Ronstadt classic, “Different Drum,” from her time with the Stone Poneys.

Earlier this year Dolenz honored his friend by releasing Dolenz Sings Nesmith, a collection of Nesmith’s songs. These included several he wrote for the Monkees—something that the show’s producers were adamantly against and which created the rift in the band.

Nesmith and Micky Dolenz had toured together routinely. In 2018, Nesmith underwent a quadruple bypass heart surgery mid-tour. The pandemic cut short a 2020 tour in support of a live album, The Mike and Micky Show Live. Following two more postponements, it resumed as a “farewell tour” that arrived in San Jose on Sept. 15. Between songs, the two shared vignettes about the origins of their songs and their memories of each other and the late Peter Tork and Davy Jones. The band included Nesmith’s son Christian Nesmith on guitar (he arranged many of the songs performed, as well as on Dolenz Sings Nesmith). Nesmith spent most of the show seated and required a cane to get around.

Moderator Paul Myers (L) with The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith (R) and Micky Dolenz at Marines’ Memorial Theatre on Jan. 12, 2020. Courtesy: Dan Dion.

Nesmith’s voice crackled a bit when he delivered the lines in spoken-word delivery to “While I Cry.” The song had never been performed until this tour, and Nesmith was clearly emotional to play it, tearing and choking up at the end.

“It was never a hit, and I don’t think it’s ever gonna be a hit. But I hope you like it and go home and listen to it on your 78,” he said.

Nesmith also spoke about what being able to keep performing means to him.