NG, a TP to you for starting this thread, and for remembering my Monkees fandom. I thought about starting one, but some troll interfered with the last Monkees thread I started, so I figured it wasn't worth the trouble. But I'm glad you did, so thank you.
Definitely a sad day for Monkees fans—sad for Mike's death, and also that there's now just one Monkee remaining. Mike (and the Monkees) made a lot of great music. Mike was also one of the pioneers of country-rock, and it was his idea that gave birth to MTV. Pretty creative and enterprising guy. Part of the reason I love the Monkees is that I watched their show growing up, and their music made an indelible mark on me from an early age. Sad to lose someone who was part of my childhood.
Sort of a funny aside, in response to 86MaxwellSmart: For years now, Micky Dolenz has joked that when only one of the four guys was left, that one would carry on as "The Monkee" (singular). And he's now that guy. (And pretty weird that they died in the same order as they disappeared in that haunted-house episode!)