Rick Derringer Passed Away At 77

Rick Derringer, the legendary guitarist behind hits that shaped rock across decades, has died at 77. His caretaker, Tony Wilson, announced the news on Facebook, and Guitar Player confirmed it. Derringer’s wife, Jenda, told TMZ he passed away “peacefully” in his sleep after being taken off life support following a medical emergency.

Derringer’s Midwest Beginnings to National Stardom

Born Richard Dean Zehringer in Celina, Ohio, on August 5, 1947, Derringer picked up a guitar at just nine years old and never looked back. He and his brother, Randy, formed a group called the McCoys, with Derringer taking lead vocals and playing guitar. At just 17, he scored a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hang on Sloopy” — a song that would go on to become Ohio’s official rock anthem. The band enjoyed more success with covers of “Fever” and “Come On, Let’s Go.”

In 1970, the McCoys linked up with Johnny Winter, performing as his backing band for the album Johnny Winter And. That partnership led Derringer to another major collaboration with Johnny’s brother, Edgar Winter. Rick played a key role in the Edgar Winter Group’s 1972 debut album, They Only Come Out at Night, which went multiplatinum.

Going Solo with a Signature Smash

Derringer launched his solo career with the 1973 release All American Boy, which featured his biggest hit, “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.” Originally performed with Johnny Winter, the solo version became his calling card and reached No. 23 on the charts. The tune found new life decades later through its inclusion in movies like Dazed and Confused and TV shows like Stranger Things.

Though his solo career peaked early, Derringer’s guitar was everywhere in the years that followed. He appeared on multiple Steely Dan tracks, like “Show Biz Kids” and “Chain Lightning,” and became a go-to studio guitarist and collaborator for Todd Rundgren.

While Steely Dan were known for their intense studio standards, Derringer said his experience was different: “They pretty much just played me the song — ‘Here you go, Rick. We want it to be a blues kind of thing.’ So that’s what I did.”

Pop Hits to Parody Gold

In the 1980s, Derringer branched out further. He contributed guitar to Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” and Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” He also collaborated with artists such as Meat Loaf, Barbra Streisand, and Cyndi Lauper. He even produced The Wrestling Album for the WWF in 1985.

Perhaps most memorably, Derringer produced the first six albums for “Weird Al” Yankovic, including Grammy-winning parodies like “Eat It” and “Fat.” His blazing solo on “Eat It” was a playful nod to Eddie Van Halen’s original on “Beat It” — but there’s a twist: “Eddie told us that he copied that style from listening to us,” Derringer recalled. “Danny Johnson, our guitarist, was doing that before Eddie made it famous.”

Later Years and a Lasting Legacy

As the ’90s rolled in, Derringer slowed down musically. He experienced a personal transformation, becoming a born-again Christian and releasing several faith-based albums with his family during the 2000s. He returned to the stage in 2010–11 with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band and later joined Peter Frampton’s Guitar Circus in 2013 alongside icons like B.B. King and Steve Lukather.

His most recent project, Rock the Yacht (2023), saw Derringer teaming up with his wife Jenda for a collection of smooth pop and heartfelt ballads. In an interview, he acknowledged the shift in tone: “People want me to rock ‘n’ roll over and over like a young guy. But I’m not a young guy — I’m 76. We do grow older and our musical tastes change a little bit.”

Still, one thing never changed — the heart behind the music. “As far as musicianship, that comes from your heart,” Derringer told Jazz Weekly. “Good songs are good songs.”

From teenage rock prodigy to studio ace, and from hitmaker to mentor, Rick Derringer’s guitar shaped more music than most fans even realize. His legacy lives on through the countless records he played on, produced, or inspired — a true rock and roll lifer who always kept it real, one riff at a time.