">It was five years ago this week (February 29th, 2012) that the Monkees' frontman Davy Jones died of a heart attack at age 66, in Indianatown, Florida. Jones had complained of chest pains the previous evening and was admitted to Martin County's Martin Memorial Hospital where he died. Jones is survived by his third wife, Telemundo star and flamenco dancer Jessica Pacheco, and his four daughters Talia Elizabeth, Sarah Lee, Jessica Lillian, and Annabel Charlotte.
Micky Dolenz, the Monkee who remained closest to Davy, told us that he was shocked by his death and always knew him to be in peak physical condition: ["Davy was the last one that I thought would be first. You can't help thinking about that as you get on. You get older and you hear about people getting sick. But Davy was a) the youngest (of the Monkees), and also, y'know, as far as I know, led a pretty healthy lifestyle, y'know? He was a vegetarian and he was out there with his horses all the time as you may have heard. He had just ridden a horse that morning -- which is (laughs) not an easy thing to do, ride a race horse, y'know (laughs)?
Jones, possibly pop's biggest heart-throb, will forever be remembered for his lead vocals on such Monkees classics as their third and final Number One, 1967's "Daydream Believer," along with such other hits as 1967's "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" (#2), 1968's "Valleri" (#3) -- along with album favorites "I Wanna Be Free," "Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)," "Forget That Girl," "She Hangs Out," "Hard To Believe," and "Daddy's Song," among others.
Davy Jones, who was born on December 30th, 1945 in Manchester, England -- the only Monkee born in Britain -- started off his professional life with a brief stint as a jockey. A song and dance man at heart, while still a teen Jones appeared on such British TV shows as Coronation Street and June Evening. He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show playing the role the Artful Dodger as part of the Broadway cast of Oliver! on February 9th, 1964 -- the night the Beatles made their American debut. The appearance led to a record contract with Colpix Records -- later Colgems Records -- which was the record label for Columbia Pictures, for whom Jones became a contract player for -- which led to his Monkees audition in 1965.