Posted on 05/27/2025 5:44:57 PM PDT by chuck allen
Rick Derringer, the guitarist, songwriter and producer who wrote or contributed to a body of hits spanning decades, died on Monday at the age of 77.
Derringer's caretaker, Tony Wilson, shared the news on Facebook, and Guitar Player later reported it. The guitarist's wife, Jenda Derringer, told TMZ he died "peacefully" in his sleep after being taken off life support following a medical episode.
Born Richard Dean Zehringer on Aug. 5, 1947, in Celina, Ohio, and raised in the nearby Fort Recovery, Derringer began his burgeoning music career in earnest when he received his first guitar on his ninth birthday. ("I was a natural," he told Guitar Player in 2024.) He and his brother Randy Zehringer (later known as Randy Z) formed a band called the McCoys in their teens, with Derringer handling guitar and lead vocals.
The McCoys scored a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965 with "Hang on Sloopy," which became the official rock song of Ohio. The band scored one more Top 10 hit with a cover of the R&B staple "Fever," and a cover of Ritchie Valens' "Come On, Let's Go" reached the Top 40.
In 1970, the McCoys backed Texas blues-rocker Johnny Winter on his album Johnny Winter And, which also served as the group's name. Derringer soon began working with Winter's brother, Edgar Winter, contributing to the Edgar Winter Group's multiplatinum 1972 debut album, They Only Come Out at Night.
(Excerpt) Read more at ultimateclassicrock.com ...
The girl in Hang on Sloopy vid
So hot so bouncy no bra era
I only saw him with White Trash but man so good
Hell yes
Rock and roll hoochie coo
I heard that.
Didn’t know it was Rick Derringer. Thanks.
Saw him many years later in a small club in New Haven CT - put on a great show, pretty personable guy, too.
“Weird Al” Yankovic
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I’m very sad to say that my friend, rock guitar legend Rick Derringer, has passed. Rick produced my first 6 albums and played guitar on my earliest recordings, including the solo on “Eat It.” He had an enormous impact on my life, and will be missed greatly. RIP
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