[1] 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.

[2] Eventually Clarke and Nash became a vocal-and-guitar duo modelled on American duo the Everly Brothers, working as "Ricky and Dane Young";[2] 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.

Hicks played in a Nelson band called the Dolphins, which also featured Bobby Elliott on drums and Bernie Calvert on bass.

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.

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.

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" (Sep. 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.

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.

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.

At the time of Haydock's departure, Clarke, Nash and Hicks participated (along with session guitarist Jimmy Page, bass guitarist John Paul Jones and pianist Elton John) in the recording of the Everly Brothers' 1966 album Two Yanks in England, which consisted largely of covers of "L. Ransford" compositions.

Another track, "Tell Me to My Face", was a moderate hit by Mercury artist Keith, and was also covered a decade later by Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg on their Twin Sons of Different Mothers album.

In addition, the Searchers and Paul & Barry Ryan each had a minor UK chart hit covering the Evolution song "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" in 1967.

The Hollies then released the ambitious, psychedelic album Butterfly, retitled for the US market as King Midas in Reverse/Dear Eloise, but it failed to chart.

In response, Clarke and Nash wrote a more conventional pop song, "Jennifer Eccles" (named after their wives) (Mar.

In addition to his Hollies work, Graham Nash co-wrote John Walker's first solo hit "Annabella" in 1967, and the following year sang on the Scaffold's UK chart-topper, "Lily the Pink" (which referenced "Jennifer Eccles").

The failure of "King Midas in Reverse" had increased tension within the band, with Clarke and Hicks wanting to record more "pop" material than Nash did.

Matters reached a head when the band rejected Nash's "Marrakesh Express" and then decided to record an album made up entirely of Bob Dylan covers.

Nash did take part in one Dylan cover, "Blowin' in the Wind", but made no secret of his disdain for the idea and repeatedly clashed with producer Ron Richards.

That proved to be Nash's last recording session with the Hollies; he officially left the group to move to Los Angeles, where he tentatively planned to become primarily a songwriter, after a performance in a charity concert at the London Palladium on 8 December 1968.

The follow-up was the emotional ballad "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell, which featured the piano playing of Elton John; it reached No.

The Hollies' next single, "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top", again featured the young Elton John on piano and reached UK No.

In 1974 they scored what was to be their last major new US and UK hit single with the Albert Hammond/Mike Hazlewood-composed love song "The Air That I Breathe" (previously recorded by Hammond and by Phil Everly on his 1973 solo album, Star Spangled Springer), which reached No.

In 1980, the Hollies returned to the UK charts with the single "Soldier's Song", written and produced by Mike Batt, which was a minor hit in 1980 reaching No.

The Hollies went back into the studio on 6 June 1981 with singer/writer/guitarist John Miles and session bassist Alan Jones to record "Carrie" and "Driver".

In August 1981, the remaining Hollies released "Holliedaze" on EMI, a medley edited together by Tony Hicks from their hit records, which returned them to the UK Top 30.

After its use in a TV beer commercial (for Miller Lite lager) in 1988, "He Ain't Heavy" was reissued in the UK and reached No.

By this time, bassist Ray Stiles, formerly a member of 1970s glam rock group Mud, had joined the permanent line-up.

Also in 2006, the Hollies' first new studio album since 1983, Staying Power, was released by EMI featuring Peter Howarth on lead vocals.

In 2014, EMI released a 3CD compilation; 50 at Fifty which concluded with one new song; "Skylarks" written by Bobby Elliott, Peter Howarth and Steve Vickers.

The move to Epic followed by Graham Nash's departure ended this streak, but they had a few more huge hits: "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (No.

[25] The band members inducted were Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Eric Haydock, Bobby Elliott, Bernie Calvert, and Terry Sylvester.