"But like I say, they've never gone. It's like they're still there, every night," he added
Micky Dolenz is reminiscing about his late bandmates from The Monkees -- and sharing the "pain" that accompanies their loss.
Dolenz is the group's sole surviving member following the death of Michael Nesmith in December 2021. (Peter Tork died in February 2019, and Davy Jones in February 2012.)
Speaking in the Monday, Jan. 26 episode of TalkShopLive, 80-year-old Dolenz spoke about touring after the loss of the others.
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"Now that it's been quite a while since we lost David - a number of years. And there was the stress and pain of that -- and then Peter and then Mike," he said.
Dolenz continued: "In a way, they never left me because every night, they're there. In the songs that I sing -- because I sing songs that Mike might have done originally, or David, or Peter. And I play a lot of video from the show and from our lives together behind me all the time, and I see that."
"There was a point after David passed and after Peter and Mike that I couldn't turn around and watch some of the footage because I would frankly just choke up. But like I say, they've never gone. It's like they're still there, every night," he added.
The band was formed after the members responded to an ad that ran in Daily Variety on Sept. 8, 1965. The ad called for four "insane boys" who "have the courage to work."
The pop-rock band/TV show that spun out of the casting call was a phenomenon in the late 1960s, spawning hits like "Last Train to Clarksville," "I'm a Believer" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday."
In the 1980s, The Monkees experienced a massive resurgence triggered by an MTV marathon of their original TV show that introduced them to a new generation.
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Dolenz has paid tribute to his late bandmates with tours in recent years. Over the summer of 2025, Dolenz hit the road with his Songs & Stories tour.
The tour served as a celebration of beloved Monkees classics peppered with anecdotes from his singular life in music, ranging from parties in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon alongside fellow legends like Joni Mitchell, Jim Morrison and David Crosby, to his eyewitness account of The Beatles at work on the 1967 masterpiece Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
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