the Hollies

the Hollies, five-piece rock group from Manchester, England, that enjoyed many hits in the 1960s both before and after losing singer-guitarist Graham Nash to a more-celebrated partnership with David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young. The principal members were lead singer Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, guitarist Tony Hicks, drummer Bobby Elliott, bassist Eric Haydock, bassist Bernie Calvert, and vocalist and guitarist Terry Sylvester.

Like most of their contemporaries in the British beat boom, the Hollies found their earliest influences in American rhythm-and-blues artists. Their first hits in the United Kingdom, in 1963–64, were with cover versions of the Coasters’ “(Ain’t That) Just Like Me” and “Searchin’,” Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs’ “Stay,” and Doris Troy’s “Just One Look.” Under the influence of Bob Dylan, however, their approach broadened, including diluted elements of folk music, to the particular benefit of Clarke. A strong lead singer, he received fine support from the harmony singing of Hicks, Nash, and—after the latter’s departure in 1968—Sylvester on “Here I Go Again” (1964), “I’m Alive” (1965), “Bus Stop” (1966, their first entry into the American top 10), and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” (1969).

At their best the Hollies established a clear balance between the various components at play in their music, developing (like their Liverpool contemporaries the Searchers) a style that provided a useful template for a new generation of power pop groups, many of them American, such as the Raspberries and the Rubinoos. Unlike most groups of their vintage, the Hollies had their greatest successes in the 1970s, with “Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)” (1972) and “The Air That I Breathe” (1974).

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Despite lineup changes and changing tastes in music, the Hollies continued performing into the 21st century, with Hicks and Elliott remaining as the last original members. In 2026, as Hicks faced health challenges, the band announced its official retirement.