Rick Derringer

As a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader, studio player, and sideman, Rick Derringer had a career that was as varied as it was successful. Scoring his first hit record with the McCoys' "Hang On Sloopy" when he was just 17, Derringer broke out as a solo star with his 1973 album All American Boy, which included the hit single "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo." He toured and recorded often, lending his guitar work to recordings by Johnny Winter, Steely Dan, Todd Rundgren, Barbra Streisand, and Bette Midler, and producing a handful of hits for "Weird Al" Yankovic. While he was best known as an arena-ready rocker, Derringer was always interested in trying new things, recording 2002's jazzy Free Ride, 2009's blues set Knighted by the Blues, and gutsy power-trio rock on 2001's Doin' Business As…, recorded with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice.