The Hollies were an English rock and pop band formed in Salford in 1962 by singer Allan Clarke and rhythm guitarist/singer Graham Nash. One of the most successful British bands of the 1960s and 1970s, their first stable line-up consisted of Clarke, Nash, lead guitarist Tony Hicks, bassist Eric Haydock, and drummer Don Rathbone. Rathbone was replaced by Bobby Elliott in late 1963, while Haydock was replaced by Bernie Calvert in mid-1966. During the Hollies' early years, most of their original songs were written by the trio of Clarke/Hicks/Nash, until Nash left the group in late 1968 to co-form Crosby, Stills & Nash, and was replaced by Terry Sylvester. Apart from a short time during late 1971 to early 1973 (during which Clarke was replaced by Mikael Rickfors), the Clarke/Hicks/Elliott/Calvert/Sylvester line-up remained in place until Calvert and Sylvester both departed in 1981. Over the next 23 years, the band underwent several more personnel changes, including a brief return of Nash during the 1980s and the final departure of Clarke in 2000, before stabilising in 2004 with their last line-up of Hicks, Elliott, singer Peter Howarth, rhythm guitarist Steve Lauri, bassist Ray Stiles, and keyboardist Ian Parker.
The Hollies enjoyed considerable popularity in the UK and Europe during the mid-1960s with a string of hits that included "Searchin'", "Stay" (both 1963), "Just One Look", "Here I Go Again", "We're Through" (all 1964), "Yes I Will", their first UK number one "I'm Alive", "Look Through Any Window", "If I Needed Someone" (all 1965) and "I Can't Let Go" (1966), although they did not achieve US chart success until "Bus Stop" was released in 1966. The group went on to have periodic success on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean over the next decade, with further UK and/or US hits including "Stop Stop Stop" (1966), "On a Carousel", "Pay You Back with Interest", "Carrie Anne", "King Midas in Reverse" (all 1967), "Dear Eloise", "Jennifer Eccles", "Listen to Me" (all 1968), "Sorry Suzanne", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (both 1969), "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top", "Gasoline Alley Bred" (both 1970), "Hey Willy" (1971), "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress", "Long Dark Road" (both 1972), "The Day That Curly Billy Shot Down Crazy Sam McGee" (1973) and "The Air That I Breathe" (1974). "He Ain't Heavy" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart following a 1988 re-release. Overall, the Hollies had over 30 charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, and 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The Hollies retired from touring following Hicks and Elliott's retirement from touring in 2026. They were one of the few UK groups of the early 1960s, along with the Rolling Stones, who had never disbanded. In recognition of their achievements, the Hollies were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.The band's lineup in the Hall of Fame includes only the seven band members from 1964 through 1971. The most famous member during this time was Graham Nash, who went on to form Crosby, Stills & Nash in the US. Letterman update The Boston Globe, 17 December 2009
Origin The Hollies originated as a duo formed by Allan Clarke and Graham Nash, who were best friends from primary school and began performing together during the skiffle craze of the late 1950s.Dawn Eden, 30th Anniversary essay, March 1993, in 30th Anniversary Collection. Eventually Clarke and Nash became a vocal-and-guitar duo modelled on American duo the Everly Brothers, working as "Ricky and Dane Young"; under this name they teamed up with a local band, the Fourtones, consisting of Pete Bocking on guitar, John 'Butch' Mepham on bass, Keith Bates on drums, and Derek Quinn on guitar. When Quinn quit to join Freddie and the Dreamers in 1962, Clarke and Nash also quit and joined another Manchester band, the Deltas, consisting of Vic Steele on lead guitar, Eric Haydock on bass guitar, and Don Rathbone on drums, which had just lost two members including Eric Stewart, who left to join a "professional" band, the Mindbenders and guitarist and vocalist, Rhys Watson. During these periods the group were managed and promoted by Michael Cohen, a music enthusiast and clothing retailer from Oldham.
The Deltas first called themselves the Hollies for a December 1962 gig at the Oasis Club in Manchester. It has been suggested that Eric Haydock named the group in relation to a Christmas holly garland, though in a 2009 interview Graham Nash said that the group decided just prior to a performance to call themselves the Hollies because of their admiration for Buddy Holly. In 2009, Nash wrote, "We called ourselves The Hollies, after Buddy and Christmas."2009 Graham Nash Reflections :: Introduction to autobiographical liner/CD booklet
1963–1969
In January 1963, the Hollies performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where they were seen by Parlophone assistant producer Ron Richards, who had been involved in producing the first Beatles session. Richards offered them an audition with Parlophone, but Steele did not want to be a "professional" musician and left the band in April 1963. For the audition, they brought in Tony Hicks to replace the departing Steele. Hicks played in a Nelson band called the Dolphins, which also featured Bobby Elliott on drums and Bernie Calvert on bass. Not only were the Hollies signed by Richards, who continued to produce the band until 1976 and once more in 1979, but a song from the audition, a cover of the Coasters' 1961 single "(Ain't That) Just Like Me", was released as their debut single in May 1963 and hit No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart.
Their second single, another Coasters cover, this time 1957's "Searchin', hit No. 12. At this point, after recording only eight songs for Parlophone, Rathbone also decided to leave the band, and Hicks was able to arrange for his Dolphins bandmate Bobby Elliott to replace him as the Hollies' new drummer in August 1963. They then scored their first British Top 10 hit in early 1964 with a cover of Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs' "Stay", which reached No. 8 in the UK. It was lifted from the band's Parlophone debut album, Stay with the Hollies, released in January 1964, which went to No. 2 on the UK album chart.
The Hollies became known for making cover versions, and they followed up with "Just One Look" (February 1964, UK No. 2), a song that had already had top 10 success in the US for Soul star Doris Troy. The hits continued with "Here I Go Again" (May 1964, UK No. 4). At this point, there was some North American interest in the group, and versions of Stay with the Hollies, with these two singles added, were issued in both Canada (by Capitol Records) and the US (by Imperial Records), with the title changed to Here I Go Again. Like their Parlophone labelmates the Beatles, the Hollies' albums released in North America were different from their UK counterparts.
By this time, the Hollies were writing and performing a substantial amount of original material, written by the group's songwriting team of Clarke, Nash, and Hicks, and producer Richards finally permitted the group to release its first self-penned hit, "We're Through" (September 1964, UK No. 7) (credited to a pseudonym, "L. Ransford", the name of Graham Nash's grandfather, as were all their early compositions). This was followed by two more cover versions, "Yes I Will" (January 1965, UK No. 9) and finally the Clint Ballard Jr.-penned "I'm Alive" (May 1965, the band's first UK No. 1, US No. 103, Canada No. 11). Their second album, In the Hollies Style (1964), did not feature in the Record Retailer top ten album chart, although it did reach the top ten of the New Musical Express chart. None of the tracks from the album were released in the US, although a version of it was released in Canada, with the addition of the British singles.
Finally, the Hollies broke through in North America with an original song that they requested from Manchester's Graham Gouldman. "Look Through Any Window" (September 1965, UK No. 4) broke the Hollies into the US Top 40 (No. 32, January 1966) and into the Canadian top 10 (No. 3 in January 1966), both for the first time. Their follow-up single, an original recording of George Harrison's new song "If I Needed Someone" (December 1965), was undercut when the Beatles decided to release their own version on the UK album Rubber Soul; it only reached No. 20 in the UK and was not released in North America. Their third album, simply called Hollies, hit No. 8 in the UK in 1965 but, under the name Hear! Here!, failed to chart in the US despite its inclusion of "Look Through Any Window" and "I'm Alive".
Of the twelve tracks on this album, only "So Lonely" was issued on 45 in Great Britain; even then, it was the B-side to the 1965 hit "Look Through Any Window", a song recorded concurrent with the rest of this album. On the original album, only five of the twelve songs are band originals, attributed at the time to the pseudonym "L. Ransford" but actually written by Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Graham Nash. The rest were covers.
In Scandinavia, the gospel song "Very Last Day" and "Too Many People" were issued on 45, with the former becoming a major hit in Sweden. "Very Last Day" was a Christian/gospel song first released by Peter, Paul, and Mary, dealing with the Christian concept of judgement day and the equality all mankind will feel when facing it, and the topic aligned well with the cultural climate at the time. Due to the success of "Very Last Day" in Sweden, they made numerous performances (including Top of the Pops) that aired around the same time, to promote it, and it has been categorized as one of their greatest hits.
The song "Put Yourself in My Place" (written by Clarke, Hicks and Nash) was also recorded by Episode Six and became their 1966 debut single.
The Hollies then returned to the UK Top 10 with "I Can't Let Go" (February 1966, UK No. 2, US No. 42). Their fourth album, Would You Believe?, which included the hit, made it to No. 16 in 1966. Released in the US as Beat Group!, it also failed to crack the US top 100.
At this point, a dispute between the Hollies and their management broke out over what bass guitarist Eric Haydock contended were excessive fees being charged to the group by management. As a result, Haydock decided to take a leave of absence from the group. While he was gone, the group brought in the Beatles' good friend Klaus Voormann to play on a few gigs and recorded two singles with fill-ins on bass: the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song "After the Fox" (September 1966), which featured Peter Sellers on vocals, Jack Bruce on electric bass and Burt Bacharach himself on keyboards, and was the theme song from the Sellers film of the same name (which failed to chart), and "Bus Stop" (UK No. 5, US No. 5, June 1966), another Gouldman song, which featured Bernie Calvert, a former bandmate of Hicks and Elliott in the Dolphins, on bass. Calvert also played a tour of Yugoslavia with the band in May 1966.
"Bus Stop" gave the Hollies their first US top ten single. As a result, a US/Canadian Bus Stop album, made of the single mixed with unreleased songs from earlier in the band's career, climbed to No. 75—the group's first album to enter the US Top 100. Although Haydock ultimately proved to be correct about the fee dispute, he was sacked in early July 1966 in favour of Calvert after "Bus Stop" became a huge hit.