The Turtles Co-Founder Mark Volman Dead at 78

Mark Volman, who’s a founding member of the ’60s rock band The Turtles, has died. He was 78.

Volman died on Sept. 5 after a “brief, unexpected illness” in Nashville Tenn., his rep confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE.

Volman began his musical career in high school in 1963, when he joined his classmate Howard Kaylan’s band the Crossfires. Eventually renamed The Turtles, the band had their first Top 10 hit in 1965 with a version of Bob Dylan‘s “It Ain’t Me Babe.”

The band was further propelled into fame with hits like “Happy Together” and “Elenore” — and Volman was a standout with his wide grin and curly hair.

After the band split in 1970, Volman and Kaylan began performing as the duo Flo & Eddie. They toured with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and sang background vocals for artists like T. Rex, Duran Duran and Bruce Springsteen.

In 2023, Volman recalled these epic memories, along with partying with John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix, in a memoir titled Happy Forever.

“It all sounds like a dream now,” Volman told PEOPLE at the time. “I’m just a groupie at heart.”

In his 40s, Volman earned a master’s in screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University and went on to teach music at Belmont University in Nashville.

In 2020, Volman was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a progressive neurological disorder after he experienced hallucinations, tremors and struggles with concentration. Three years later, in 2023, he opened up about the diagnosis for the first time in an interview with PEOPLE.

“I got hit by the knowledge that this was going to create a whole new part of my life. And I said, ‘Okay, whatever’s going to happen will happen, but I’ll go as far as I can,'” he said at the time.

With medication to help control his tremors and hallucinations, Volman continued to perform on the Happy Together tour, an annual ’60s music fest that Volman and The Turtles (minus Kaylan, who has stopped touring due to health issues) headline. 

“The challenges of this world affect everybody, and it’s been kind of fun being on the other side of a challenge like this and saying, ‘I feel good.’ My friends are here. I’m still here. And I want people to connect with me,” he told PEOPLE.

In his final Instagram post in January, Volman — who was born and raised in Los Angeles — asked his followers to stay strong and come together amid the destructive wildfires.

Volman is survived by his significant other Emily Volman, his ex-wife Pat Volman, their daughters Hallie Volman and Sarina Miller and his brother Phil Volman.