Rick Derringer, legendary McCoys guitarist and Grammy-winning producer, dies at 77

Rick Derringer, the pioneering guitarist, frontman of the influential, proto-garage-rock act the McCoys, and a Grammy-winning producer for Weird Al Yankovic, has died at 77.

Tony Wilson, Derringer’s longtime caretaker and friend, announced his death in Ormond Beach, Fla., in a Tuesday Facebook post that read, “Legendary musician/entertainer Rick Derringer Received His Wings And Passed On This Memorial Day.” Wilson noted that Derringer “passed on at 8:09 PM on May 26th, surrounded by his loving wife, Singer Songwriter, and band of 28 years Jenda Derringer, [and] his caretaker and close friend Tony Wilson.”

No cause of death was given.

Born Richard Dean Zehringer on Aug. 5, 1947, Derringer was the son of an Ohio railroad foreman and first formed his influential band, the McCoys, while still in eighth grade.

The band recorded their first and most enduring hit, “Hang On Sloopy,” the year after the original, the Vibrations’ song “My Girl Sloopy,” was released in 1964, before Derringer had turned 18. The song charted higher than The Beatles‘ “Yesterday” and paved the way for Derringer’s continued success.

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Derringer formed and joined a number of groups throughout his storied seven-decade career, including the Edgar Winter Group, which scored Derringer another big hit in 1972 with “Frankenstein.” His 1973 solo debut, All American Boy, was buoyed to success by lead single “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” which has been re-introduced generation after generation via inclusion on the soundtracks for 1993’s Dazed and Confused and the season 4 soundtrack of Stranger Things in 2022.

Over the years, Derringer collaborated with a number of iconic musicians and musical acts, from Steely Dan (“My Rival”), to Todd Rundgren (Derringer produced several Rundgren albums), Bonnie Tyler (“Total Eclipse of the Heart”), and Barbra Streisand (“Left in the Dark”). Derringer went on to Grammy glory for producing six albums for Weird Al Yankovic.

In his post announcing Derringer’s death, Wilson noted that arrangements for a memorial service for Derringer will be announced at a later date out of respect to his family and loved ones.