Tork grew up in Connecticut and in the mid-1960s as part of the Greenwich Village folk scene in New York City where he befriended musician Stephen Stills. After moving to Los Angeles with Stills, he was recruited for the musical television sitcom "The Monkees". The success of the show made him a teen idol from 1966 to 1968. He released one solo album, "Stranger Things Have Happened" (1994), and later toured with James Lee Stanley as well as his band, Shoe Suede Blues.