He played hits like "Daydream Believer": The Monkees bass player, Peter Tork, is dead. He was 77 years old. His friends, family and colleagues reported Tork's death on his Facebook page without giving any further details. Tork was a "friend, mentor, teacher and incredible soul," it was said.
The Monkees - consisting of the lead singer Davy Jones, died in 2012, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Tork - were founded in 1965 as a boy band for a television show. With their hits "I'm a Believer", "Last Train to Clarksville" and "Little Bit Me, Little Bit You" they were also successful outside the television. All four were teen idols, Jones stood out with his British accent. In 1967, the Monkees sold 35 million albums, twice as many as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones together, according to a Washington Post report.
The bassist, who also sang at the Monkees, was diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009. His relatives asked in her Facebook message about Tork's death for donations to the Massachusetts "Institute for Musical Arts", which aims to provide young women with music education.
A few years after the end of the television series in 1968, the group actually dissolved. But the musicians performed again and again over the years and went on tour again in 2011. Jones, who released his own album in 2009, died in 2012 at the age of 66.