Bobby Hart has died at the age of 86 at his home in Los Angeles after his health declined followed a hip break last year.

The sad news was shared by his friend and co-author Glenn Ballantyne.

The musician wrote songs for the popular 1960s pop band the Monkees which consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.

Hart worked on their theme song for their TV show simply titled The Monkees.

The series was about antics of four boys who make up the rock ‘n’ roll band the Monkees are captured in this freewheeling 1960s series.

Hart also penned Last Train to Clarksville as well as (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.

Bobby Hart has died at the age of 86 at his home in Los Angeles after his health declined followed a hip break last year. he wrote songs for the band the Monkees; seen in 1966

Songwriter Hart visits the SiriusXM Studios in 2015 in New York City

Hart wrote songs with Sidney Thomas ‘Tommy’ Boyce.

The Monkees were a pop band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s.

Their TV series The Monkees was very successful; the sitcom aired from 1966 to 1968.

The band produced the chart-topping albums I’m a Believer and Daydream Believer.

For two albums, the Monkees mostly performed as a group; however, within a year, each member was pursuing his own interests under the Monkees’ name, rendering the Monkees once again a group in name only.

Followed by the cancellation of The Monkees TV series, diminishing success on the charts, and waning popularity the band members began to leave the group.

The Monkees held a final recording session in 1970 before breaking up.

The Monkees posed for a promotional picture shoot in 1967 for their eponymously named show; seen in 1967

The band produced the chart-topping albums I’m a Believer and Daydream Believer; seen in 1967

From left, Dolenz, Tommy Boyce, Hart and Jones in 1975

Later they went on reunion tours, had a television special, and new studio albums.

After the deaths of Jones in 2012 and Tork in 2019, Dolenz and Nesmith undertook a farewell tour in 2021.

This tour concluded shortly before Nesmith’s death later that year, leaving Dolenz as the sole surviving member of the Monkees.

In 2023 Dolenz said he didn’t care about having no control over The Monkees’ first two albums.

The singer was cast in the band for a TV sitcom and while he admitted some of his bandmates were frustrated over the lack of input they were allowed into their careers, he was happy to just do what was asked of him.

Hart and Dolenz speak onstage at Reel To Reel: The Guys Who Wrote ‘Em at The GRAMMY Museum in 2015 in Los Angeles

Micky – the sole surviving member of the band – told Record Collector magazine: ‘They put everything together. I don’t remember having any control, nor do I remember wanting much. I mean, that was the big bugbear especially for Nesmith.

‘I can only speak for myself. I was cast into this as a singer, a guitar player – they made me the drummer. We had no control over the song selection, the musicians, who was going to sing what.

Who knows why they made the choices they did? We had very little, if any control over the first two albums. Nez managed to write and play on a couple of things. Sometimes after 12 hours of filming, I would do a couple of lead vocals at night.

‘I don’t remember having any control over the artwork, the liner notes, the sequencing, the song selection, nothing. Having said that, I’m very, very proud of those first two albums. I put an enormous amount of that material in my shows because they were the big hits.’