One of my first childhood memories was at age three-and-a-half years, watching reruns of the comedy series The Monkees. 🎭📺 I soon developed my first celebrity crush on Monkees band member David ‘Davy’ Jones, the cute, short one. 😍 The TV show also led me to become a lifelong admirer of the band–which also includes drummer Micky Dolenz and guitarists Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork–and of their music. Watching all four men perform, be it together on television, or as a duo or trio in concert, still brings back so many happy memories.

Therefore, on February 29, 2012, when I friend told me Davy had died from a severe heart attack, I was overcome with sadness. 😭 I perceived Davy as like an old friend from my childhood, who made me laugh at his funny antics on The Monkees and who made me smile whenever he sang.

A memory I will never forget came seven months before Davy’s death. I had an opportunity to meet him backstage after The Monkees’s July 2011 concert at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif. That evening, I literally felt like Marcia Brady the day she met Davy in the 1971 Brady Bunch episode “Getting Davy Jones.” 😊

Like many other music fans, I had always dreamed about meeting my favorite band. I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to meet Davy just before he died. ☹️ His music will live on forever and I will cherish this candid memory for as long as I live. ❤️

My favorite version of “I Wanna Be Free.”

One of my many favorite Monkees songs.

The song Davy was synonymous for.