Monkees Singer Davy Jones Dies at 66

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[lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Davy Jones[/lastfm], legendary lead singer of the Monkees, has died at age 66 of an apparent heart attack.

TMZ and other sources (USA TODAY, NBC,CBS, ABC) reports the sudden unexpected death today of a rock & roll legend.

[lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Davy Jones[/lastfm] of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]The Monkees[/lastfm] has died of we’ve been told was “a massive heart attack” at age 66. The medical examiner’s office in Martin County, Florida was notified this morning by a local hospital.

TMZ confirmed Jones’ death with an official from the medical examiner’s office for Martin County, Fla. The heart attack apparently occurred while he was asleep.

Davy started off as a stage actor. Wiki says: after playing the role of The Artful Dodger in OLIVER! as a child in London, he accompanied the show on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award. On 9 February 1964, he appeared with the Broadway cast of Oliver! on The Ed Sullivan Show, the same episode on which [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]The Beatles[/lastfm] made their first appearance. Jones says of that night, “I watched the Beatles from the side of the stage, I saw the girls going crazy, and I said to myself, this is it, I want a piece of that.”

He got it. In 1965 he joined [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Mike Nesmith[/lastfm], [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Micky Dolenz[/lastfm] and [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Peter Tork[/lastfm] in the TV show [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]THE MONKEES[/lastfm].

The English-born singer is survived by his wife and four daughters.
Here’s a video of one of Jones’ last performances, with B.B. King in New York: