Peter Tork of the Monkees, dies at 77

Peter Tork, endearingly offbeat bassist and singer in the Monkees, died today at the age of 77 after battling with cancer for ten years as reported by Washington Post.

Peter was a singer, bass player and keyboard player for the Monkees, a four-piece band who found fame in the 1960s.

His death was confirmed by his sister Anne Thorkelson, who did not say where or how he died.

Tork was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer affecting his tongue, in 2009.

He was the oldest member of the group when their NBC show The Monkees first aired in 1966.

The show ran for only two seasons, but in its time, won an Emmy Award for outstanding comedy.

However, Peter revealed in 2012 that he'd been suffering from a rare form of head and neck cancer on his website, but stressed that it had not spread to other parts of his body.

Over the last three years, Peter had been playing with his own band the Shoe Suede Blues, playing Monkees covers and classic blues hits.