Mark Volman died: the founding member of The Turtles, creators of the song “Happy Together”

Mark Volmanfounding member of the Pop Group The Turtles of the 1960s, who sang in his success number 1 “Happy Together” And whose brilliant harmonies also inspired songs like “It ain’t yethe died Friday in Nashville after a brief and unexpected disease. He was 78 years old.

Volman revealed in 2023 that he had been diagnosed with Lewy bodies in 2020, but continued to act on the annual tours of ancient songs “Happy Together” in the following years.

Together with his partner from The Turtles, Howard KalanVolman continued the first boom of the band reinventing himself in 1970 as Flo & Eddie. His show was marked by the humorous mischief of the duo, Volman’s curly and wild hair and, always, his distinctive vocal harmonies.

They went on tour with Mothers of Invention of Frank Zappa And they sang choirs in songs like “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” of T. Rex and, later, in “Hungry Heart”the first single from Top 10 of Bruce Springsteen. They even wrote for the Strawberry Shortcake children’s television program. Camila Cabello He used his song “Keep It Warm” In his successful 2024 single, “I LUV IT”.

Kaylan retired in 2018 due to health problems, leaving Volman as the last original member of the turtles acting with the band.

Mark Volman’s extensive trajectory

Born in Los Angeles on April 19, 1947, Volman met Kaylan and began singing together during his years of institute. As The Turtlesthe first success of the group arrived in 1965 with a version of “It Ain’t Me Babe” of Bob Dylanand would continue to reap successes in the following years. The group’s flagship success, “Happy Together”, was number 1 in the Billboard 100 list for three weeks just before the summer of love and reached Top 10 in several other countries. Reached number 12 in the United Kingdom.

In total, The Turtles obtained nine pop -top 30 singles in the US, including five top 10, and “She’d rather be with me” and “Elenore” They arrived at the Top 10 of the United Kingdom. Together with the aforementioned songs, his successes include “She’s My Girl” and “You Showed Me”among others.

Less successful in the album lists, the only LP of the band in the Top 10 was the 1967 compilation album The Turtles! Golden Hits.

In the middle age, Volman returned to University, where he obtained a degree and a mastery before teaching musical business classes in several institutions, especially at the University of Belmont in Nashville. In 2023, he published his memoirs, “Happy Forever: My musical Adventures with the Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, and More”.

In 2010, Volman and Kaylan began the annual tours of Happy Together, often together with other artists from the 60s and 70s, such as Gary Puckett, Mitch Ryder, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & The Raiders, Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, Gary Lewis and Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. Volman continued the tour until the summer of 2025, along with the singer of Archies, Ron Danteknown by “Sugar Sugar”after the withdrawal of Kaylan.