Michael Nesmith

Michael Nesmith

About the Author

Michael Nesmith (1942-2021) was a singer-songwriter, actor, author, film producer, and entrepreneur, who was a member of the legendary band The Monkees, which was also an Emmy Award-winning television show. The band produced three #1 singles and four #1 albums in 1966-1967. He periodically reunited with his bandmates Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork between 1986 and 2021 for concert tours, television specials, and to record new albums.

Nesmith’s music with the First National Band has been credited with pioneering country rock as a genre in the 1970s and he made several critically-acclaimed solo albums including the Grammy Award-nominated The Garden. He won the very first Grammy for Video of the Year in 1981 for Michael Nesmith in Elephant Parts, a collection of music videos and comedy skits. He further developed the format in 1985 as the variety series Michael Nesmith in Television Parts, featuring such guest performers as Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Jimmy Buffett, and Rosanne Cash. PopClips, his music television concept that aired on the Nickelodeon Channel, became the basis for MTV.

Nesmith’s film productions include Alex Cox’s cult, punk rock movie Repo Man, starring Emilio Estevez, Tapeheads with John Cusack, and Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann. He was the author of the novels The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora and The America Gene, and his memoir Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff.