Monkee Davy Jones dies





MONKEE: Davy Jones.
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LATEST: Davy Jones, former lead singer of the 1960s made-for-television pop band The Monkees, has died at a hospital in Florida, according to an official from the local medical examiner's office.
His publicist, Helen Kensick, said Jones died of a heart attack in Indiantown, Florida, but she had no further details.
Jones, born in Manchester, England, became the principal teen idol of the rock quartet featured on the NBC comedy series The Monkees, which was inspired in part by the Beatles film A Hard Day's Night and ran from the fall of 1966 to August of 1968.
Although not allowed to play their own instruments on their early records, Jones and his three cohorts - Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork - had several hits that sold millions of copies, including Last Train to Clarksville and I'm a Believer.
Disparaged by critics as the "Pre-Fab Four" for the manufactured way in which the band came together, the group proved to be adept performers.
The group collaborated early on with some of the major songwriters and session musicians of the day, including Neil Diamond, Carole King, Glen Campbell and Hal Blaine.
Jones got his start as a young actor, at the age of 11, on the British soap opera Coronation Street before landing a role as the Artful Dodger in a West End production of Oliver! He went on to originate that role for the Broadway production and earned a Tony nomination.- Reuters