Micky Dolenz

Micky Dolenz built a wide-ranging identity across acting, directing, music, and broadcasting, yet his identity remains tied most closely to his work as drummer and primary singer for the Monkees, the defining pop and rock act of the 1960s. Across a professional arc that covered seven decades, he maintained a reputation for effortless charisma while displaying vocal command whose tenor voice shaped the group’s landmark recordings and stayed strong through live appearances that extended into the 2020s. Singles he issued alone during the 1970s following the Monkees’ initial split appear together on 2015’s The MGM Singles Collection; his interpretive range received focused display on 2012’s Remember; he saluted a longtime associate with 2021’s Dolenz Sings Nesmith; and he honored an unexpected influence via the 2023 EP Dolenz Sings R.E.M.

George Michael Dolenz Jr. entered the world in Los Angeles, California, on March 8, 1945, as the son of George and Janelle Dolenz, both active in entertainment. Screen tests came his way by age six, and at ten he secured the recurring part of Corky on Circus Boy, a series that ran three years and sent him on national tours alongside his elephant Bimbo. Teenage years brought serious attention to music; he fronted several local rock outfits, among them Micky & the One Nighters, which concentrated on material by the Rolling Stones and Jerry Lee Lewis. One early recording, the single “Huff Puff” backed with “Don’t Do It,” originated during this stretch though it stayed unreleased until 1967.

Casting for the television series The Monkees in 1965 placed Dolenz ahead of more than four hundred hopefuls. Although the part called only for him to portray the band’s drummer, his singing ability quickly positioned him as lead vocalist on numerous tracks. Sharing the lineup with Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, he rose first to television prominence and then to rock stardom once the program achieved high ratings and singles such as “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m a Believer,” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” climbed the charts. Nine albums emerged during the original period, worldwide sales surpassed 60 million units, the series ran two seasons, and the group starred in the cult film Head before disbanding in 1970, two years after production ended; by then only Dolenz and Jones remained.

Behind-the-camera interests led Dolenz to helm one of the final Monkees episodes. Post-breakup activity included several solo 45s for MGM Records plus one release under the name Starship with producer Michael Lloyd, issued years before Jefferson Starship shortened its own name similarly, yet acting kept him most visible through guest spots on My Three Sons, Adam-12, and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law together with voice roles on animated series such as The Funky Phantom and Devlin. A 1976 return to music produced the album Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart, uniting him and Davy Jones with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, authors and producers of many signature Monkees songs. The record and its accompanying tour drew positive notices but limited attendance, prompting Dolenz’s 1977 move to England for the London staging of The Point, the musical drawn from Harry Nilsson’s 1971 concept album already adapted as an animated television film. An intended three-month stay stretched to twelve years, during which he established himself as a director in both television and theater.

While Dolenz resided in England, MTV aired a full-day marathon of every Monkees episode, acknowledging the group’s foundational blend of music and television. The 1986 broadcast achieved strong viewership, leading the network to add the series to regular rotation and rekindling public interest; several albums reentered the charts, and Dolenz collaborated with Peter Tork on the new track “That Was Then, This Is Now,” which gained airplay and video exposure after inclusion on a Monkees greatest-hits package. The resulting offer for a reunion tour proceeded without Michael Nesmith yet with participation from Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork, proving highly successful. This configuration delivered the 1987 album Pool It!, whose commercial results proved modest, after which Dolenz and Jones limited Monkees activity for several years.

Stage appearances followed in productions of Grease, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Hairspray, while directing credits included episodes of Boy Meets World and Pacific Blue. The first solo album, the children’s collection Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep, arrived in 1991, succeeded in 1994 by the similarly youth-oriented Broadway Micky. Publication of the memoir I’m a Believer: My Life of Music, Madness and the Monkees occurred in 1993. Plans marking the Monkees’ 30th anniversary in 1996 brought the original quartet together for Justus, an album written and performed entirely by the members. An intended world tour lost Michael Nesmith after United Kingdom dates, marking the final joint performances by the classic lineup. Demoiselle, a 1998 solo release, presented original demos for eight songs Dolenz had composed during the 1990s.

Early-2000s television work featured appearances on As the World Turns and The Drew Carey Show plus voice contributions to The Tick and The Powerpuff Girls. A 2005 stint as morning host on New York’s WCBS-FM lasted one year before he returned to theater with a 2007 tour of Pippin. Recording resumed in 2010 with the Carole King tribute King for a Day, released in August. Remember, described by Dolenz as an audio scrapbook of covers drawn from the Beatles, Harry Nilsson, Chuck Berry, and the Monkees, followed in 2012. The 2015 archival set The MGM Singles Collection gathered the ten solo singles issued between 1971 and 1974 on the MGM, Lion, and Romar labels. Also in 2015 came the live album A Little Bit Broadway, A Little Bit Rock & Roll, captured at New York’s 54 Below and mixing Monkees material, Broadway numbers, and vintage pop songs.

Steady touring with the Monkees marked the 2010s: performances alongside Peter Tork and Davy Jones marked the 45th-anniversary shows of 2011, after which Jones’s 2012 death led to continued road work with Tork and Michael Nesmith. Varied configurations of the group maintained a stage presence with Dolenz always central. Good Times!, the first album since Justus, emerged in 2016 under producer Adam Schlesinger; it combined newly written tracks with material from the mid-1960s and featured contributions from writers including Carole King and Rivers Cuomo, timed for the band’s 50th anniversary. The solo outing Out of Nowhere appeared in 2017, presenting Monkees hits arranged with the 30-piece American Metropole Orchestra. Christmas Party!, a holiday album, followed in 2018, and after Peter Tork’s 2019 death Dolenz and Nesmith mounted the concert tour billed as The Mike & Micky Show, documented on the 2020 release The Monkees Present: The Mike & Micky Show.

A long-planned album devoted to Mike Nesmith compositions materialized in 2021. Conceived along lines similar to Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Sings Newman, Dolenz Sings Nesmith arrived in May, produced by Nesmith’s son Christian and containing songs from the Monkees years as well as Nesmith’s early solo period. Christian Nesmith also produced the four-track 2023 EP Dolenz Sings R.E.M., which included “Shiny Happy People,” “Radio Free Europe,” “Man on the Moon,” and “Leaving New York.” R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe offered the assessment, “These songs are absolutely incredible … I have died and gone to heaven.” Release coincided with publication of the book I’m Told I Had a Good Time: The Micky Dolenz Archives, Volume One, assembling photographs and memorabilia from Dolenz’s personal collection.