Mark Volman, the singer and co-founder of the Turtles, best known for their jubilant 1967 hit ‘Happy Together’, has died, aged 78.
Reps for Volman confirmed the news to Rolling Stone, telling the publication he passed yesterday (September 5) after a “brief, unexpected illness”. Volman was also battling Lewy body dementia, which he was diagnosed with in 2020, but he continued touring and only told fans of his diagnosis in 2023.
Alongside lifelong creative partner and fellow band founder Howard Kaylan, Volman helped guide The Turtles through a prosperous period in the late 1960s, managing to pivot from surf-rock to psychedelia when the cultural appetite demanded it.
They scored 17 career entries on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned five top 10 hits over the course of their career, with hits like ‘She’d Rather Be With Me’, ‘Elenore’, ‘You Showed Me’, and ‘Happy Together’.
We've lost our Flo.
Rest in Peace Mark Volman. Such an incredible talent with The Turtles and The Mothers of Invention.
Mark could play almost any instrument and without a doubt is the prototype of being the original hype man in modern music. pic.twitter.com/G6XqsGu11d
— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) September 5, 2025
RIP Mark Volman
The Turtles, Flo & Eddie, The Mothers Of Invention.
What a talent, what a guy.“Elenore”@NewWaveAndPunk @prodnose @MakingTime60s @CrowleyOnAir pic.twitter.com/0qIbFAnlpf
— Nik D (@nikidoog) September 5, 2025
The latter, with its buoyant “ba-ba-ba-bah’s“, is widely considered to be the band’s signature song and synonymous with the flower-power era. It was their sole No. 1 hit on the charts, going on to be voted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
After the Turtles disbanded in 1970, Volman and Kaylan were recruited by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, where they began to perform under the name Flo and Eddie, with Volman being “Flo,” which was short for “The Phlorescent Leech”.
Along with their work with Zappa, Flo and Eddie released numerous albums of their own and made original music for TV shows, including for Strawberry Shortcake and The Care Bears.
They also provided backing vocals for some of the biggest artists of the ‘70s and ‘80s, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Blondie, T.Rex, Alice Cooper, Bruce Springsteen, Stephen Stills, David Cassidy and more.
Since 2010, Volman had embarking on the ‘Happy Together’ tours, appearing alongside the likes of fellow nostalgia acts like Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, and The Monkees’ Mickey Dolenz, a performed on the tour as recently as this year.
Volman is survived by his daughters, Sarina Marie and Hallie Rae, both from his marriage to Patricia Lee.