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. Career Early years 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 convinced 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. They had by this time secured a test recording session with EMI's Parlophone label with staff producer Ron Richards, whom the band later credited with creating and choosing their greatest hits. Hicks duly attended the session as their new guitarist in April 1963 and the audition resulted in a recording contract with Parlophone. With the Hollies 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