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Derringer, who performed with brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter after the “Hang On Sloppy” hype, in 1973 released his debut solo album “All American Boy,” which offered listeners another hit: “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.”

Rick Derringer, the guitarist and former McCoys rocker who gained popularity for songs including “Hang On Sloopy” and “Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo,” and produced albums for a range of artists including Cyndi Lauper and Weird Al Yankovic, has died.

It was three months ago—though it feels like three years—when Secretary of State Antony Blinken strapped on a Fender Stratocaster, stepped to a mic in the State Department’s august Benjamin Franklin Room, and led a band of musician-friends through a more-than-passable cover of Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man.”

But when Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken picked up a black Fender guitar at a State Department event on Wednesday night and joined a band for Muddy Waters’s “Hoochie Coochie Man,” the response on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, where the video has been watched more than eight million times, drew positive reviews — and more than a little shock.

The pull to honor this rich legacy in a major way compelled Truly to launch HoochieCon, a group exhibit featuring mixed media art and music honoring Black women pioneers at the center of hoochie culture.