Michael Nesmith, singer and guitarist with The Monkees, died on Friday at the age of 78.

“With Infinite Love we announce that Michael Nesmith has passed away this morning in his home, surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes. We ask that you respect our privacy at this time and we thank you for the love and light that all of you have shown him and us,” the musician’s family said in a statement. 

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Nesmith wrote songs like “Mary, Mary,” “Circle Sky,” “Listen to the Band,” and “The Girl I Knew Somewhere.” However, the iconic 1960s pop group didn’t have creative control of their albums. In 1967, the band led the successful rebellion against record producer Don Kirshner and went on to create albums largely on their own.

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In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2012, Nesmith explained why he always wanted the group to write and record their own material.

“We were kids with our own taste in music and were happier performing songs we liked – and/or wrote – than songs that were handed to us. It made for a better performance. It was more fun. That this became a bone of contention seemed strange to me, and I think to some extent to each of us – sort of “what’s the big deal – why wont you let us play the songs we are singing?” he said. 

When the group dissolved a few years later, Nesmith formed the First National Band, however, it broke up shortly after. He spent the rest of the 1970s  recording under-the-radar solo albums.

In 1980, his mother, Liquid Paper Inventor Bette Nesmith Graham, died, leaving her substantial fortune. He invested in a series of businesses along with movies such as Repo Man and Tapeheads. 

In 1996, he returned to the Monkees for the LP Justus and a brief UK tour. In 2012, he joined the group on a permanent basis and a series of  American Monkees tours followed.