Michael Nesmith, the lanky hat-wearing guitarist from 1960s pop group and TV stars the Monkees, has died.
"With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes," his family said on Friday.
The 78-year-old wrote many of the band's tunes - once their producers let them - and was later instrumental in developing the late 1960s, early 1970s country-rock sound.
In the 1980s Nesmith created a music video TV show which would later evolve into MTV, and with money left to him by his mother - the inventor of correction fluid Liquid Paper - he went on to invest in movies and other businesses.
He rejoined the Monkees for reunions in the 1990s and 2010s, most recently on their 2016 album Good Times!.
Despite his publicised clashes with the band's producers in the 1960s, Nesmith said he never regretted joining.
"It was a fun for me, and a great time of my life," he told Rolling Stone in 2013. "I mean, where do you want be in the '60s except the middle of rock & roll, hanging out with the scene? London was an absolute blast, and so was L.A. back then. There was so much going on back then."
Nesmith's death leaves Mickey Dolenz the last remaining member of the band alive.
