The Monkees were formed from TV producers, not by the members.

The TV producers
Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson had the idea to start a show about a band like The Beatles. The
band members were Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork. All of them
had some musical experience. The show began in 1966 on NBC, and became a big hit. The show
ran from 1966-1968. Each week on the show, they had people from high industries write a song
or two for them to sing.
The main audiences for The Monkees were teenagers and children. By 1967 they were
the most popular band in the US. Their records beat The Beatles and Rolling Stones. After a
while, they started getting mad because they werent playing their own instruments and writing
their own songs. So, they started to rebel against their record producers and company. In 1967
they started playing their own instruments and writing their own songs. They also did a tour, so
they could prove they could perform live.
In 1968 the TV series ended. Peter left the band in 1969 from exhaustion, and bought the
rest of his contract. A year later Mike left the band, which he later started his own band called
The First National Band. That left Jones and Dolenz to record Changes, along with the rest
of the singles by The Monkees, before they had to give up the name. They toured as a duo during
the 1970s.
They released their 11
th
studio album in 1996. The songs were recorded and performed
by all four of The Monkees. Tork, Dolenz, and Jones had their 30
th
anniversary, Nesmith then
joined them for their tour in the UK. In 2001, Davy denied the possibility of them ever reuniting
again. But on February 21, 2011, they announced their 45
th
anniversary tour. It started in the UK,
but ended due to internal conflicts. Davy died at the age of 66 due to a heart attack in 2012.