Private Funeral Held for Davy Jones

Public memorial set for next week in Manchester, England

Davy Jones’ family held a private funeral Wednesday for the former Monkees singer near his home in Florida.

Jones’ wife and four daughters from two previous marriages attended the intimate service, his spokeswoman told Reuters.

Publicist Helen Kensick said Jones’ body will be cremated and his ashes sent to Manchester, England, where he grew up and where a public memorial is set for next week.

There may also be a public service in Los Angeles or New York for the former pop star, who died last week of a heart attack at age 66.

Jones rocketed to stardom in the 1960s as the youngest member of the made-for-TV outfit The Monkees.

Their television show lasted just two years and the group ultimately broke up, but they have endured with such chart-topping hits as "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer."

Micky Dolenz told The Associated Press he and the group’s two other surviving members have talked of attending one of the public memorials that Jones' family is planning.

Whether the surviving Monkees would perform at any of the gatherings, or at any other time in the future, is an open question.

"The three of us, Mike and Peter and I, we have never worked together just as a threesome. Mostly it was Peter, David and I and then Mike would join us," Dolenz said Tuesday of the band's periodic reunions over the years. He added the goup had been "communicating" but it was too early to say whether they would perform.

Jones' daughter Annabel took to Facebook Wednesday to thank supporters and invite fans to memorialize her father at another event Saturday called Ocupy Beavertown, Pa. at "the Church that he built for ALL of us," E! Online reported.

"Thank you for helping to make me feel less lost and bottomless, knowing you are all dotted around the Earth makes life less frightening and like if we all reached out we could hold hands and make a chain all the way around the planet," she wrote. "Dad and I connected mostly over music, songwriting and performance, that's where we understood each other. The hours I spent sitting amongst you all watching him perform are honestly some of my most precious and treasured moments. Everything was so simple while he was up there, I felt proud and close and I understood him there, as I know you all did."
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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