Here They Come: The Monkees To Go On Tour

The Monkees are to perform their first live shows since Davy Jones died in February.

Mike Nesmith is joining Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork for a 12-date US tour in November.

The concert will see the three surviving members of the band play together again for the first time in 15 years.

Nesmith, who had shunned previous reunions, was quoted by Rolling Stone magazine as saying: "This seems like a good time to do this - the right time. Who knows when we will get another chance?"

The group starred in their own television show in 1966 as a made-for-TV band seeking to capitalise on the Beatlemania that was then sweeping the world.

The Monkees rocketed to the top of the music charts, captivating audiences with hits including I'm A Believer and (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone before Nesmith quit in 1970.

The group then split the following year, but Jones got back together with Dolenz and Tork over the years for several tours.

Although The Monkees had nine Top 40 hits in their heyday, they were criticised for being a manufactured group.

Californian band The Byrds mocked them in their single So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star.

However, The Monkees made an effort to prove themselves by writing more of their own songs and starring in the 1968 cult film Head, which was co-written and produced by Jack Nicholson.

British frontman Jones died of a heart attack on February 29 this year at the age of 66.

Prior to The Monkees, he appeared as Ena Sharples' grandson in Coronation Street and also starred in the police drama Z-Cars.

He briefly left showbusiness to train as a jockey - and continued to race horses later on in his life - but returned to acting with a role in a stage production of Oliver!

From the West End he followed the show to Broadway where he built up an acting career and went on to audition for The Monkees.

Nesmith, Dolenz and Tork will kick off their tour on November 8 in Escondido in California, wrapping up on December 2 in New York.

The surviving Monkees said the 12 dates would highlight Jones "in the show's multimedia content".