Mark Volman

Mark Randall Volman (April 19, 1947 – September 5, 2025) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter who was best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles. With his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, he was a member of the 1970s rock duo Flo & Eddie, in which he used the pseudonym Flo (short for The Phlorescent Leech). Volman later joined Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention.

Early life Volman was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 19, 1947, to a Jewish father, Joe Yarnatinski, who changed his name to Volman, and a Catholic mother, Bea (née Campillo). He was raised in the Westchester neighborhood, where he performed in his mid-teens with Kaylan in a proto-Turtles band called the Crossfires. He graduated from Westchester High School in 1965.

Career

Music and film Volman and Howard Kaylan were founding members of the Turtles, a popular band of the late 1960s. In 1965, shortly after leaving school, they were touring with Herman's Hermits and playing to audiences of 50,000. The band folded in 1970. Volman and Kaylan planned to continue working together, but discovered that the terms of their contract forbade them to use not only the name 'The Turtles' but also their own names. In the mid-1980s they regained possession of their naming rights after a "long legal battle". Kaylan retired in 2018 because of ill health.

In 2023, Volman co-wrote his biography with John Cody and several other former bandmates and colleagues, titled Happy Forever: My Musical Adventures With The Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, And More.

Academia

In 1992, at age 45, Volman started his bachelor's degree at Loyola Marymount University. He was an active undergraduate member of the choir and a Founding Father of the California Chi chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Volman graduated with a B.A. degree in 1997 magna cum laude and was the class valedictorian speaker. During the speech he led the graduates in a chorus of "Happy Together". CBS Evening News covered Volman's graduation and interviewed his parents, who were perplexed at their son's academic accomplishments.

Volman earned a Master's degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in communications and screenwriting in 1999, also from Loyola. After earning his degree he taught Music Business & Industry courses in the Communications and Fine Arts department at Loyola. He also taught courses in the Commercial Music Program at Los Angeles Valley College. He later became an associate professor and coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies Program at Belmont University,

Personal life and death Volman married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Lee Hickey, in January 1967 and they were married for 25 years. The couple had two daughters, Sarina Marie and Hallie Rae Volman. Volman married his second wife, Emily, in 2000. They were divorced in 2015.

In June 2023, Volman disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. He died on September 5, 2025, at the age of 78, from complications of a blood disease.

Discography

With The Turtles

Studio albums

Singles YearTitle (A-side / B-side)

With The Mothers of Invention

Studio albums

Singles Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicatedAlbumYear"Tell Me You Love Me" b/w "Will You Go All the Way for the U.S.A.?" [sic]Chunga's Revenge1970"Tears Began to Fall" (remix) b/w "Junier Mintz Boogie" (non-album track)Fillmore East – June 19711971"Magic Fingers" b/w "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy"200 Motels"What Will This Evening Bring Me This Morning" b/w "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy"

With Flo & Eddie

Albums The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie (1972) Flo & Eddie (1973) Illegal, Immoral and Fattening (1975) Flo & Eddie Interview with Barry Mann, Special Promotion Record for Radio Stations (1975) Moving Targets (1976) Rock Steady With Flo & Eddie (1981) The History of Flo & Eddie and the Turtles (1983) The Best of Flo & Eddie (1987) The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie Captured Live! (1992) New York "Times" (2009)