Tony Hicks

the drummer
English guitarist and singer

Anthony Christopher Hicks (born 16 December 1945) is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British rock/pop band the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. His main roles within the band are lead guitarist and backing singer.

Hicks first had a taste of fame at age 12 as a member of Les Skifflettes when they were featured on the Carroll Levis talent show in 1957. By the early 1960s, he was a respected member of the Manchester music scene and had become the lead guitarist with Ricky Shaw and the Dolphins, while working as an apprentice electrician. When then local rivals the Hollies needed a replacement for their guitarist Vic Steele in February 1963, Hicks was immediately approached to join the band and although initially reluctant, he was finally persuaded to join after listening to The Hollies through the air vent of the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester. Hicks shrewdly negotiated an £18 per week wage to join, despite the other members being paid just £9 per week.

The Hollies soon became one of the most successful bands in Britain; they had a distinctive, breezy pop style built around the three part harmony of Hicks (lower harmony) and bandmates Allan Clarke (lead vocals) and Graham Nash (high harmony). Hicks contributed his first solo composition for the group ("When I'm Not There") to an EP release in 1964 and co wrote a B side ("Keep Off That Friend of Mine") with drummer Bobby Elliott that year. Hicks then joined Clarke and Nash as the group's in house songwriting team, who from 1964 to mid 1966 wrote as "Chester Mann" and "L. Ransford" before adopting the Clarke Hicks Nash banner. By the mid 1960s the threesome had become responsible for writing most of their songs, including singles hits such as "Stop! Stop! Stop! ", "On a Carousel", "Carrie Anne" and "King Midas in Reverse". Hicks rarely sang lead vocals on Hollies songs, but was featured on "Look Through Any Window" (1965), and sang verse leads on "Too Much Monkey Business" (1964), "Carrie Anne" (a song he began for the band in Stavanger, Norway in 1967) and "Open Up Your Eyes" (1968). Hicks took solo lead vocals on his song "Pegasus" (1967), the Clarke Sylvester penned "Look at Life" (1969), his "Born A Man" (1973), "Hillsborough" (1989) and Bobby Elliott's "Then, Now, Always (Dolphin Days)" (2009). In 1966, with contributions from fellow Hollies Clarke and Nash, Hicks contributed guitar work alongside Yardbirds guitarist and session musician Jimmy Page to The Everly Brothers' album Two Yanks in England (which included cover versions of a number of Hollies songs co written by Hicks). In the 1960s, with Nash performing few guitar duties except for the occasional rhythm part and acoustic work, Hicks became an integral part of the Hollies sound. Apart from contributing distinctive lead guitar parts, he could be relied on to add unusual instrumentation to their sessions—such as the banjo which was a key component of their hit "Stop! Stop! Stop! ", Greek type ("Tell Me to My Face"), electric sitar ("The Baby"), and fuzz guitar ("Have You Ever Loved Somebody"). When no original material was available, Hicks discovered demos of Hollies hits "Just One Look" (UK No. 2 in 1964), "I Can't Let Go" (UK No. 2 in 1966) and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (UK No. 3 in 1969) (which became one of their biggest hits).