In 1966, Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork became The Monkees, first as the stars of an NBC television series and then as a real-life band that became one of the biggest pop phenomena of the decade.
Sixty years later, Dolenz is the last surviving member of the group, following the deaths of Jones in 2012, Tork in 2019 and Nesmith in 2021.
Dolenz, 81, has spoken before about still feeling the presence of his former bandmates. But in a new interview with Billboard, he revealed the simple thing he misses most about the three men he came to consider brothers.
“The thing I miss the most is just not being able to call somebody and just say hi,” Dolenz said.
Dolenz is currently celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Monkees, which premiered on NBC on Sept. 12, 1966. His 60 Years of the Monkees concerts incorporate stories and video footage from throughout the group’s history.
That means Jones, Nesmith and Tork remain a part of the show every night.
“It’s almost like they’ve never left ’cause I’m with them every night,” Dolenz told Billboard. “I’m seeing them on the screen. I’m hearing them. People talk about it all the time.”
Dolenz said the relationship among the four Monkees ultimately became much like a family.
“We were really like brothers, ultimately,” he said. “And, like brothers, we fought sometimes, but you can’t go through something like we did and not be that close to one another.”
It’s a sentiment Dolenz has expressed before. In an August interview with AARP, he acknowledged feeling “a little melancholy sometimes” as the last surviving Monkee, but said the wealth of music and video they created together makes it feel “like they’re still there.”
Related: Micky Dolenz Mourns the Loss of ‘Rare Songwriter’ Who ‘Showed Up’ For Davy Jones
The group’s beginnings were anything but conventional. Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith and Tork were cast individually for The Monkees, a musical comedy about four aspiring musicians living together in a Malibu beach house. Dolenz has recalled that he didn’t even meet his future bandmates until a wardrobe fitting for the pilot.
But the fictional group soon became a very real one.
The Monkees released their self-titled debut album in October 1966, and it reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200. “Last Train to Clarksville” became their first No. 1 single, followed later that year by the chart-topping “I’m a Believer.”
Dolenz previously recalled that Nesmith had the perfect description for the unusual transformation from television creation to genuine touring band: It was “like Pinocchio becoming a real little boy.”
The anniversary has given Dolenz plenty of reasons to look backward, but he continues to make new music as well.
His six-song EP Timeless arrived Sept. 4 and features songs written by an impressive collection of musicians, including Paul Westerberg, the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson, XTC’s Andy Partridge and the late Adam Schlesinger.
Dolenz told Billboard that the title deliberately nods to the Monkees’ six-decade history.
“Timeless refers to the 60 years of The Monkees, of course,” he explained, adding that he believes the group’s ’60s sound, particularly its jangly guitars, “hasn’t dated that much.”
Dolenz is also continuing his anniversary tour, including a special Sept. 12 performance in Los Angeles marking exactly 60 years since The Monkees premiered on NBC.
But even as he keeps the music alive for fans six decades later, his comments about Jones, Nesmith and Tork reveal the much more personal side of carrying the Monkees’ legacy alone.
For Dolenz, his three bandmates are still part of the show every night. It’s the quieter moments away from the stage, when he can no longer simply pick up the phone and say hello, that he misses most.
Related: Micky Dolenz Reflects on the Year the Monkees Outsold the Beatles & Rolling Stones — Combined
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