Bobby Hart, a songwriter who co-wrote some of the greatest hits of the Monkees, and a performer in is own right who made the top 10 as a member of the duo Boyce and Hart, died Wednesday at age 86. His wife MaryAnn said that her husband’s death came after a long illness.

Hart was associated throughout his career with co-writer Tommy Boyce. Together, they wrote a series of huge hits for the Monkees, including the theme song for the TV series that spawned the group, “(Theme From) The Monkees,” as well as the 1966 No. 1 single “Last Train to Clarksville” and follow-up singles “I Wanna Be Free,” “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” and “Words.”

The “Monkees” theme was not their only indelible TV song; the duo also wrote the theme for the long-running soap “Days of Our Lives.”

Another song that became a standard, “Hurt So Bad,” was first a No. 10 pop hit for Little Anthony and the Imperials, before being covered by acts from the Lettermen to Linda Ronstadt (whose cover reached No. 8 in 1980). The duo’s other songs included “Come a Little Bit Closer” for Jay and the Americans, a No. 3 Billboard hit in 1964.

Hart was also an Oscar nominee, with “Over You,” a song from “Tender Mercies,” in which Robert Duvall portrayed a country singer, being put up for an Academy Award in 1983; his co-writer for that was Austin Roberts.

Although Boyce and Hart remained best known for helping establish the Monkees as actual charttoppers as well as TV stars, they found success on their own as a duo, releasing three albums and finding success with one big hit, amid a series of lesser-charting singles. Their gold-selling single “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight” reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967.

As a duo, they were done by the end of the 1960s, but in the mid-1970s they came back together in the studio alongside ex-Monkees members Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones for what was widely seen as an attempt to form a new version of the Monkees, dubbed Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart. The supergroup did not have any super success on the charts and the collaboration only lasted for one 1976 studio album; they had a somewhat greater impact as a touring act.

Boyce and Hart also made a series of television appearances during their brief heyday as a duo in the 1960s, appearing on “Bewitched,” “The Flying Nun” and “I Dream of Jeannie.”

Hart played on some of the hits he co-wrote with Boyce as well, such as playing the Vox continental organ on the Monkees’ version of “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.” That song was actually first recorded by the Liverpool Five and then Paul Revere & the Raiders before the Monkees took it to No. 20 on the Hot 100.

Tommy Boyce died by suicide in 1994 at age 55.

Bobby Hart was born Robert Luke Harshman on Feb. 18, 1939, in Phoenix, Arizona. He changed his name at the behest of a manager when he started a brief career as a solo artist with the 1960 single “Girl in the Window.”

In 2015, Hart published an autobiography, “Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem Into Miracles,” co-written with Glenn Ballantyne.

More recently, he published another book co-penned by Ballantyne, this time focusing on his spiritual practice and not his career. “Yoga and Your Hidden Soul Power: A New Path to Love, Happiness, and Abundance Using Yoga’s Ancient Niyama Wisdom,” released in 2024, expounded on his advocacy for Kriya Yoga and the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship and author of “Autobiography of a Yogi.”

Hart married MaryAnn in 1980 and they shared a strong interest in meditation retreats. “Bobby’s songwriting work accurately articulated youthful energy, and emotions to the world,” his wife said in a statement, “but his soul work brought happiness, contentment, and peace into our home.”

Along with MaryAnn, Hart is survived by sons Bret and Bobby Jr., from a former marriage to Becky; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and his sisters Deborah and Rebecca.

A rep says Hart’s memorial service will be private, to be followed by a public celebration in spring 2026 in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be directed to the Self-Realization Fellowship.