Peter Tork, ex-Monkee, Has Rare Cancer

Peter Tork, 67, a former member of 1960's band The Monkees, has a rare form of head and neck cancer, he has revealed on his website. Tork is at the very right in the picture of The Monkees in this post.

The Monkees were a pop singing quartet assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 specifically for a comedy TV series. The series aired from 1966 to 1968 and starred Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. While the group mostly did vocals at the start, and reportedly weren't all familiar with musical instruments, they eventually learned and release numerous hits.

The Monkees were obviously a take-off on The Beatles, and reportedly inspired by the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night.

Some of their hits include:

"Last Train to Clarksville," "Daydream Believer," "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You," "I'm a Believer," "I Wanna Be Free," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone."

According to his website, Peter Tork, who is now the current bandleader of blues-rock band Shoe Suede Blues announced that he has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. This is a rare and generally slow-growing form of head and neck cancer is most frequently found in the salivary glands but in his case was discovered on the lower region of the tongue.

Here's what Peter Tork says on his website:

"It's a bad news, good news situation. It's so rare a combination (on the tongue) that there isn't a lot of experience among the medical community about this particular combination. On the other hand, the type of cancer it is, never mind the location, is somewhat well known, and the prognosis, I'm told, is good.

"I am extraordinarily grateful, amazed and humbled by the encouragement, affection and support I've received so far. Barring any complications, I fully expect to honor a performance date I have this June with Shoe Suede Blues. We're appearing in Manchester, Connecticut and I'm looking forward to that and all our tour dates."

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