Monkees star Mike Nesmith dead at 78

Monkees star Mike Nesmith has died aged 78.

Rolling Stone Magazine reported the musician had died at home in the United States.

In a statement to the magazine, his family said: “With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes.

“We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us.”

Along with vocalist Davy Jones, drummer Micky Dolenz and bassist Peter Tork, Nesmith recorded some of the decade’s most enduring songs, including I’m A Believer, Daydream Believer and Last Train To Clarksville.

Dolenz said he was “heartbroken” and posted a photograph from a gig they played together recently.

The band’s manager Andrew Sandoval confirmed the news with “deep sadness”.

Nesmith, who often appeared in a green wooly hat on the hit TV show that propelled the manufactured band to stardom, was an accomplished musician and wrote several of the band’s hits including Listen to the Band and The Girl I Knew Somewhere.

He grew frustrated by the lack of control the band had over their career and struck out on his own becoming a pioneer of country rock.

Neswmith later worked as a filmmaker and won the first ever Grammy Award awarded for video of the year in 1981 for hour-long television show Elephant Parts.

He was also the executive producer of the cult sci-fi comedy film Repo Man, which starred Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton in 1984.

His death comes almost three years after bandmate Peter Tork, best known as the keyboardist and bassist in the quartet, “passed peacefully” at the age of 77.

The Monkees’ British-born member Davy Jones died in 2012 at the age of 66.

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