"The Hollies" Premium Unisex T-Shirt

Manchester, 1962. Named After Buddy Holly. The Harmonies Were So Good That When Graham Nash Left, He Took Them to California and They Became the Sound of Woodstock.

Allan Clarke, Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Bobby Elliott, Eric Haydock. They formed in Manchester in 1962 and named themselves after Buddy Holly — not the full name, just the echo of it. By 1963 they were on Parlophone, the same label as the Beatles, and delivering three-part harmonies that were technically among the tightest in British pop: Clarke on lead, Nash in the upper register, Hicks filling the middle.

"Bus Stop" in 1966. "Carrie Anne" in 1967. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" in 1969. The catalog accumulated with the consistency of a band that genuinely knew how to write and arrange a pop song and kept doing it.

Nash left in 1968. The stated reason was a disagreement over recording an album of Bob Dylan covers — Nash thought it was a mistake, the rest of the band proceeded anyway, and the album underperformed. Nash went to Los Angeles, met David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and the harmony approach he'd developed in Manchester became the defining sound of Crosby, Stills & Nash and, by extension, a significant portion of the California singer-songwriter era. The Hollies kept going without him.

"Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" in 1972 went to number two in the US and sounded like it had been recorded in a Louisiana swamp — a deliberate reinvention that demonstrated the band could change when they needed to. "The Air That I Breathe" in 1974 was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. It went to number two in the UK. In 1992, Radiohead's "Creep" used a chord progression close enough to it that Hammond and Hazlewood received a songwriting credit. The Hollies' DNA is in one of the defining alternative rock songs of the 1990s.

This tee is for the Manchester harmonies that traveled further than anyone expected.

Premium Quality

• Bella + Canvas 3001 — Premium unisex tee, true to size
• Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton — Exceptionally soft from the first wear
• Classic unisex fit — Relaxed, versatile, works for everyone
• Available in Team Purple and Oxblood Black — Sizes XS–4XL

Made to Order

For environmental and quality reasons, this tee is made specifically for you after you order. Please allow approximately one week for production. Tracking information will be sent as soon as it ships.