The Hollies

The Hollies had many musical lives, going from R&B-influenced British Invasion heroes to psychedelic rockers to ’70s pop purveyors. Their magic, instantly recognisable vocal harmonies were the thread running through it all. In the late ’50s and early ’60s, Allan Clarke and Graham Nash worked first as a skiffle duo and then in various rock ’n’ roll bands until forming The Hollies late in 1962. They were just in time for the Beatles-led beat-music boom in England and the British Invasion phenomenon in the U.S., riding both to international stardom with “Bus Stop” and other smashes. Nash departed by the end of 1968, forming Crosby, Stills & Nash, and was replaced by Terry Sylvester. The Hollies not only prospered but reinvented themselves with huge ’70s hits like the rocker “Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)” and the pop ballads “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” and “The Air That I Breathe”.