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The Hollies<\/a> have come to an end<\/a> after more than six decades, following the sudden retirements of the last two remaining members from their classic era.<\/p>\n Guitarist Tony Hicks and drummer Bobby Elliott both joined in 1963, soon after Allan Clarke and Graham Nash<\/a> co-founded the group. The Hollies ultimately released 23 studio albums and 67 singles on their way to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame<\/a> honors.<\/p>\n Hicks, 80, and Elliott, 84, are now saying goodbye. \u201cDue to health reasons, Tony has decided to step away from touring,\u201d the Hollies said in a brief statement<\/a>. \u201cOut of respect for Tony and everything they have shared throughout their remarkable journey together, Bobby has also decided to retire from touring.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter more than six decades, the Hollies\u2019 touring career will come to a close with immense gratitude to the fans who have supported them around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Elliott and Hicks had been in a teenage band called the Dolphins when they attracted the attention of Clarke and Nash. \u201cThe Hollies were forming and they wanted a guitar player,\u201d Elliott later remembered<\/a>, \u201cso their manager kept coming and pestering us: \u2018Tony, you must come and join this new band, the Hollies. They\u2019ve got an audition at Abbey Road Studios!\u2019\u201d Hicks agreed to join \u2013 but only if Elliott did, too.<\/p>\n Clarke was also school friends with Nash, but they quickly developed as a writing trio following Hicks’ arrival. The Hollies went on to score a long string of hit songs between 1966 and 1974, including 10 Top 40 singles, to become one of the\u00a0most successful\u00a0bands from the British invasion years in American music. <\/p>\n Watch the Hollies Perform \u2018Bus Stop\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cBus Stop\u201d marked their No. 5 U.S. breakthrough in 1966, after the Hollies had already collected eight U.K. Top 10 singles. Then Nash met Stephen Stills<\/a> and David Crosby<\/a> during a Hollies tour of America in 1966.<\/p>\n They’d go on to form a groundbreaking eponymous trio<\/a>, after a fateful moment singing together on the Stills composition \u201cYou Don\u2019t Have to Cry.\u201d Nash said he and the others \u201cstopped, we laughed, because we knew our lives had changed.\u201d \u201cYou Don\u2019t Have to Cry\u201d was later included on 1969’s Crosby Stills and Nash<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI knew I had to go back to England, leave the Hollies, and follow that sound,\u201d Nash told On<\/em><\/a> magazine, \u201cand that\u2019s what I did. \u2026 I believe it was the right choice.\u201d The Hollies, ultimately led by stalwarts Hicks and Elliott, would continue on for decades.<\/p>\n Subsequent Hollies lineups hit with \u201cHe Ain\u2019t Heavy, He\u2019s My Brother,\u201d the platinum-selling \u201cLong Cool Woman in a Black Dress\u201d and and the gold-certified \u201cAir That I Breathe.\u201d They were recognized by the Rock Hall in 2010, after Clarke’s own retirement. The Hollies had moved forward afterward with singer Carl Wayne of the Move<\/a> and then later Peter Howarth.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> When the Hollies Recorded a Hit with the Unknown Elton John<\/a><\/p>\n Hicks said the Hollies brought a familiar passion to their modern-era performances. \u201cThat\u2019s the best life for me. So that\u2019s something I don\u2019t want to let go!\u201d he told Terrascope<\/em><\/a> in 2001, with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019ll have to one day \u2013 time\u2019s rolling on \u2013 but for now, it\u2019s still great fun.\u201d<\/p>\n For one reason or another, these acts weren’t able to find much commercial success across the Big Pond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhen Did the Hollies Break Through?<\/h3>\n
How the Hollies Built a Lasting Legacy<\/h3>\n
22 British Acts That Didn’t Break Big in America<\/h2>\n