Last surviving Monkees member sues FBI for records on the band

The last surviving member of 1960s music group The Monkees is suing the FBI to obtain records the bureau maintained on the band over their political messaging.

Singer Micky Dolenz previously submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to "obtain any records" from the FBI on the band, according to The Hill. Dolenz's attorney, Mark Zaid, said the bureau failed to respond to the request within the required 20-day period. The musician ultimately resorted to a lawsuit in which he claimed to have "exhausted all necessary required administrative remedies" to acquire the records. 

Dolenz became the band's last surviving original member after Michael Nesmith died in 2021. Peter Tork died in 2019 while Davy Jones died in 2012. The band's heyday was in the late 1960s during which it released hit singles such as "I'm a Believer," "Daydream Believer," and "Last Train to Clarksville."

The FBI kept tabs on public figures known to express opposition to the Vietnam War or to espouse political views sympathetic to the Soviet Union or its socialist worldview.

The Monkees caught the bureau's eye over their anti-war rhetoric and "subliminal messaging" through concert imagery, according to portions of the FBI files released in 2011, The Hill noted.