American singer Mark Volman died on Friday (Sep 5) at the age of 78 following a “brief, unexpected illness”, his representative has confirmed.
Volman was the co-founder of the rock band The Turtles, who were best known for their 1967 single Happy Together. He was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2020 but continued to tour and only publicly revealed his diagnosis in 2023.
He told People magazine at the time: “I got hit by the knowledge that this was going to create a whole new part of my life. And I said, ‘Okay, whatever’s going to happen will happen, but I’ll go as far as I can.’
“The challenges of this world affect everybody and it’s been kind of fun being on the other side of a challenge like this and saying, ‘I feel good.’ My friends are here. I’m still here. And I want people to connect with me.”
Volman began his career when he was in high school in 1963, when he joined classmate Howard Kaylan’s band The Crossfires, who were ultimately renamed The Turtles and had their first top 10 hit in 1965 with a cover of Bob Dylan’s It Ain’t Me Babe.
The band split in 1970 but Mark Volman continued to work with Kaylan as the duo Flo + Eddie, touring with Frank Zappa and singing backing vocals for artists including Bruce Springsteen, Duran Duran and T Rex.
In his 40s, the singer received his master’s in screenwriting and went on to teach music at Belmont University in Nashville.
Despite the symptoms of his condition, including tremors and hallucinations, Volman continued to perform on the annual Happy Together music tour that he and The Turtles – without Kaylan, who stopped performing due to health issues – headlined.
- Agencies
