Mark Volman
Volman performing in 2008 billed as "The Turtles Featuring Flo & Eddie" (withFender Stratocaster)
Background information
Also known as	Flo Phlorescent Leech
Born	Mark Randall Volman (1947-04-19)April 19, 1947 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	September 5, 2025(2025-09-05) (aged 78) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Rock pop
Occupations	Musician songwriter professor
Instruments	Vocals guitar keyboards tambourine
Years active	1965–2025
Labels	Warner Bros. Columbia
Formerly of	The Turtles Flo & Eddie The Mothers of Invention
Website	www.theturtles.com

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 bandthe Turtles. With his bandmate and friendHoward Kaylan, he was a member of the 1970s rock duoFlo & Eddie, in which he used the pseudonymFlo (short forThe Phlorescent Leech). Volman later joinedFrank Zappa's bandThe Mothers of Invention.

Volman was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 19, 1947^[1] to a Jewish father, Joe Yarnatinski, who changed his name to Volman, and a Catholic mother, Bea (nee Campillo).^[2] He was raised in theWestchester neighborhood, where he performed in his mid-teens with Kaylan in a proto-Turtles band called the Crossfires. He graduated fromWestchester High School in 1965.

Volman andHoward Kaylan were founding members ofthe Turtles, a popular band of the late 1960s. In 1965, shortly after leaving school, they were touring withHerman's Hermits and playing to audiences of 50,000.^[3] Their cover ofBob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" gave them a Top Ten hit. They had another US Top 20 hit in 1966 with "You Baby". "Happy Together" replacedthe Beatles at Number One in early 1967 and they sang it on theEd Sullivan Show.^[4] Volman and Kaylan had sung together in their school choir, and further hits, characterized by their "pristine Beach Boys-style harmony vocals", included "She'd Rather Be With Me" and "Elenore".^[5]

In December 1968,NME magazine reported that Volman had insured his distinctive frizzy hair for US$100,000 against fire, theft or loss due to illness.^[6] 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.^[7] They reinvented themselves as the Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, which was shortened toFlo and Eddie when they were recruited byFrank Zappa^[8] to join theMothers of Invention. They worked together as Flo & Eddie in music, providing backing vocals forT.Rex andBruce Springsteen and touring withAlice Cooper; in film (they provided music and voices for animated films likeDown and Dirty Duck); and inradio broadcasting. Alice Cooper was quoted as saying "They had such pure voices. Everybody wanted to work with Mark and Howard."^[9] They made several albums of sardonic songs under the Flo & Eddie name.^[10] In 1971 Volman appeared in and on thesoundtrack to Zappa's humorous pseudo-documentary film,200 Motels.^[11] In the mid-1980s they regained possession of their naming rights after a "long legal battle".^[12]

In 2015, Kaylan and Volman celebrated their 50th year, touring and performing more than 60 concerts a year, billed as "The Turtles ... Featuring Flo & Eddie" with their Happy Together Tour, a classic revue-format show featuring some popular bands of the mid-to-late 1960s musical era. During this tour in 2015, Volman was diagnosed withthroat cancer, but was declared cancer-free in 2016.^[13] Kaylan retired in 2018 because of ill health.^[14]

According toThe Hollywood Reporter, Volman and Kaylan had been "leading the charge against the uncompensated use of their music, and using state-based misappropriation, conversation [sic] and unfair competition claims because sound recordings only began falling under federal copyright protection in 1972."^[15]

In 2023, Volman co-wrote his biography with John Cody and several other former bandmates and colleagues, titledHappy Forever: My Musical Adventures With The Turtles, Frank Zappa, T. Rex, Flo & Eddie, And More.^[16]

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In 1992, at age 45, Volman started hisbachelor's degree atLoyola Marymount University. He was an active undergraduate member of the choir and a Founding Father of the California Chi chapter ofSigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Volman graduated with aB.A. degree in 1997magna cum laude and was the classvaledictorian 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.^{[17][failed verification]}

Volman earned aMaster's degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in communications andscreenwriting 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 atLos Angeles Valley College. He later became anassociate professor and coordinator of the Entertainment Industry Studies Program atBelmont University,^[18] in theMike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, and conducted seminars about themusic industry. He became a professor at Belmont University in Nashville, lecturing on the music business for various academic institutions fromjunior high school to university level. In addition, he offered consulting on music business and entertainment through the website Ask Professor Flo.^[19]

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.^{[20][better source needed][21]} They were divorced in 2015.^[22]

In June 2023, Volman disclosed that he had been diagnosed withLewy body dementia.^[23][24][25] He died on September 5, 2025, at the age of 78, from complications of a blood disease.^[26][27][28]

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• 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)

• Official websiteArchived 2011-02-09 at theWayback Machine
• Ask Professor FloArchived 2014-06-07 at theWayback Machine, a business and website run by Volman and his wife to aid up and coming musicians
• Mark Volman atIMDb
• Mark Volman discography atDiscogs

• 1947 births
• 2025 deaths
• American rock singers
• American male singers
• Loyola Marymount University alumni
• The Mothers of Invention members
• The Turtles members
• American rock guitarists
• American male guitarists
• Guitarists from Los Angeles
• 20th-century American guitarists
• Westchester High School (Los Angeles) alumni
• People with Lewy body dementia
• Jewish American singers
• American people of Jewish descent

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