Their debut single, "Hang on Sloopy", became a number-one hit in 1965 and is now regarded as a classic track from the garage rock era.

Derringer was born in Celina, Ohio,[1] and grew up in Fort Recovery, the son of John Otto and Janice Lavine (Thornburg) Zehringer, a section foreman on the Nickel Plate Railroad.

[2] According to Derringer, aside from his parents' extensive record collection, his first major influence was his uncle, Jim Thornburg, a popular guitarist and singer in Ohio.

Derringer recalled first hearing him play guitar in the kitchen of his parents' home and knowing immediately that he wanted to learn the instrument.

After eighth grade, the family moved to Union City, Indiana, where Derringer formed a band he initially called the McCoys.

[6] In 1973, Derringer released his first solo album, All American Boy,[7] which featured his hit song "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo".

Around this time, Derringer played guitar on two Steely Dan tracks: "Show Biz Kids" on Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) and "Chain Lightning" on Katy Lied (1975).

[14] Derringer played guitar on "My Rival" from Steely Dan's Gaucho (1980) and also contributed to Donald Fagen's first solo album, The Nightfly (1982).

In 1983, he played guitar on two hit power ballads written and produced by Jim Steinman: Air Supply's "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart".

[16] In 1983, Derringer also wrote "Shake Me" for his Good Dirty Fun solo album, accompanied by a video produced by Jake Hooker, the husband of Lorna Luft.

In 1984, Derringer played guitar on Barbra Streisand's cover of Steinman's "Left in the Dark," released as the lead single from her album Emotion.

Also in 1986, he played guitar on two songs from Cyndi Lauper's album True Colors, "Calm Inside the Storm" and "The Faraway Nearby."

In 1987, Meat Loaf appeared on Way Off Broadway, a nationally distributed cable TV show with Derringer as the music director.

He co-wrote the theme song for Demolition and also recorded a new version of "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" as a duet with Gene Okerlund.

Some of the artists involved with Voices include Tone-Loc, Wally Palmar, Kim Carnes, Belinda Carlisle, Tommy Tutone, Mark McGrath, Fastball, Skip Martin, Jakob Dylan, Natasha Bedingfield, Coolio, John Rzeznik, Martha Davis, Silverchair, Steve Augeri, John Elefante, Alex Ligertwood, Jeff Lyons, and the Rembrandts.

The tour featured Wally Palmar, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Richard Page, and Gregg Bissonette.

King, Roger McGuinn (ex-Byrds), Don Felder (ex-Eagles), Leslie West (ex-Mountain), Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, Toto's Steve Lukather, Los Lobos' David Hidalgo, and Pearl Jam's Mike McCready.

[44] In 2017, Derringer was charged with carrying a loaded gun on a Delta Air Lines flight from Cancún in Mexico to Atlanta, Georgia.

[46] A re-recording of 1985's The Wrestling Album's "Real American" with updated lyrics was released on May 28, 2017, debuting on Alex Jones's radio show.