He was not actually a drummer and needed lessons even to be able to mime credibly, but eventually was taught how to play properly. By the time The Monkees went on tour in late 1966, Dolenz was competent enough to play the drums himself.[3] He learned to play right-handed and left-footed because of a leg disease called Perthes making his right leg weak.

Tork was a proficient musician, and though the group was not allowed to play their own instruments on their first two albums, he was an exception, playing what he described as "third chair guitar" on Mike Nesmith's song, "Papa Gene's Blues," from their first album. He subsequently played keyboards, bass guitar, banjo, harpsichord, and other instruments on their recordings. He also co-wrote, along with Joey Richards, the closing theme song of the second season of The Monkees, "For Pete's Sake"

Jones sang lead vocals on many of the Monkees' recordings, including "I Wanna Be Free" and "Daydream Believer" In 1967, Jones opened his first store, called Zilch, at 217 Thompson Street in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. The store sold "hip" clothing and accessories and also allowed customers to design their own clothes.[citation needed] After the Monkees officially disbanded in 1971, Jones kept himself busy by establishing a New York City-style street market in Los Angeles, called "The Street".

After the break-up of the Monkees, Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country rock group the First National Band, with whom he had a top-40 hit "Joanne", and then as a solo artist. He was a noted player of the twelve-string guitar, performing on custom-built twelve-string electric guitars with the Monkees (built by Gretsch) and various twelve-string acoustic models he played during his post-Monkees career. He is also an executive producer of the cult film Repo Man (1984). In 1981, Nesmith won the first Grammy Award given for Video of the Year for his hour-long television show, Elephant Parts