Davy Jones of the Monkees died of a heart attack. He was 66. He had been complaining of chest pains and was admitted to a hospital yesterday morning before passing away.
Jones started acting as a child. In 1964 he appeared in the cast of Oliver! on the same episode where the Beatles made their debut. The next year he was cast in The Monkees, a show/band that was inspired by the success of the Beatles.
They were an instant hit and had huge singles with ”Last Train To Clarksdale,” “I’m A Believer,” “Stepping Stone” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”
Jones was the lead vocalist on classics like ”Daydream Believer” and “I Wanna Be Free.” At the peak of their popularity in 1967, they sold more albums than the Beatles.
The group split in 1971 and Jones went onto a solo career. He’s best known for performing his song “Girl” on an episode of “The Brady Bunch”.
Jones returned to acting in the late 70s, but found it hard to escape the shadow of the Monkees. By the mid-80s Monkee mania was reborn when MTV and other stations started airing old episodes of the show. The band, minus Mike Nesmith, reunited for a reunion tour in 1986. They toured off and on through 2001 when infighting led to another split.
Last summer they patched things up for a 45h anniversary tour, but it was called short because of what guitarist Peter Tork called a “glitch.”
Jones was on a solo tour at the time of his death. He played as recently as last week.
