Michael Nesmith Was ‘Absolutely Determined’ to Finish Final Tour

Even as his health was waning, Michael Nesmith was “absolutely determined” to finish the Monkees 2021 farewell tour.

“Despite his condition, you could never, never have talked him out of the tour,” bandmate Micky Dolenz revealed during a conversation with Rolling Stone. “We had every opportunity to stop the tour. You don’t need any excuses these days. We had the option all the time to cancel dates, and we did cancel a couple for various reasons. We could have canceled more, but he was absolutely determined to finish that tour.”

Nesmith died Dec. 10 at the age of 78, less than a month after taking his final bow on the Monkees farewell tour.

“The last show of the tour is pretty much a blur to me,” Doelnz admitted. “Our last conversation probably took place that night, but I don’t recall it specifically. We did hug that night on the stage. And the whole tour was very emotional for me. I knew it was pretty unlikely that, for whatever reason, we’d ever be doing this again. That was both our attitudes for us. We went out with flair.”

Dolenz stated it was "not [his] place to talk about the exact state of [Nesmith's] health towards the end of his life. But it’s public knowledge that just a couple of years ago, he had a quadruple bypass. It’s also no secret he was a Christian Scientist." Nesmith's death means that Dolenz is the final surviving Monkee.

“I don’t really see myself as the last Monkee, but it’s the end of an era. That’s for sure,” Dolenz reflected. “That’s what happens. None of us are going to get out of this alive.”