He was born in Dallas, Texas on December 30, 1942. His mother, Bette Nesmith Graham invented Liquid Paper in 1951 and made the family very rich. In the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles to start a recording career, he wrote the song "Different Drum" which was a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. In 1966, he became a member of the Monkees, a made-for-TV rock band, he left the group in 1969 and started a solo career. He is considered one of the forefathers of the country-rock movement of the 1970s with his song "Joanne", he also worked as a producer and is considered one of the pioneers of the music video industry. Nesmith's 1981 video-movie "Elephant Parts" won the first Grammy award for a music video