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He recorded the hit song „Hang on, Sloopy“ at just the age of 17. He collaborated with an eclectic mix of performers, including Barbara Streisand, „Weird Al“ Yankovic, and Hulk Hogan.
And he was a first-rate musician, composer, producer, and performer, whose unbounded energy made his live performances something to remember.
Rick Derringer passed away at his home in Florida, according to his close friend Tony Wilson. He was 77.
In 1965, Derringer played lead guitar for a garage band called The McCoys and cut a single, „Hang on, Sloopy“, that soared to the top of the charts. The Ohio State football team adopted the song, and in 1985, it was named the „state rock song“ by the Ohio legislature.
The list of bands and personalities with whom Derringer collaborated is a long one. It included both Winter Brothers, Johnny and Edgar, Alice Cooper, Todd Runyan, Meat Loaf, Kiss, and Bonnie Tyler. He produced six of „Weird Al“ Yankovic’s albums, as well as two Runyan albums.
The collaboration with Weird Al raised a few eyebrows in the industry. But Derringer grew up listening to the novelty albums of Spike Jones, an early TV favorite in the 1950s. Jones’s „Never Hit Your Grandma with a Shovel (Use an Ax)“ was a true classic of the genre.
