Dermot Fergus "Derry" Grehan (born July 10, 1957) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

best known as a member of the rock band

Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadians, Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was origina ...

. The band was co-founded by

Johnnie Dee John Richard DeGiuli, known as Johnnie Dee, is a Canadian rock vocalist best known as the lead singer for the rock band Honeymoon Suite. Dee (who also plays guitar) and guitarist Derry Grehan formed Honeymoon Suite in Niagara Falls, Ontario in ...

, keyboardist and vocalist Brad Bent, and drummer Mike Lengyell in 1981.

Biography

Born in

St. Catharines, Ontario St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

, Canada, Grehan began playing piano and switched to

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

at age 11. His early influences included

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

. Grehan recorded his first single at 17, with a band known as Stytch. Grehan attended

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is partnered with private ILAC International College. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it ha ...

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

, and received a diploma in Recorded Music Production. During this time he wrote "

New Girl Now "New Girl Now" is a song by the Canadian rock band Honeymoon Suite. It was written by Derry Grehan, and released as a single in 1984, from the album Honeymoon Suite (album), ''Honeymoon Suite''. The single reached No. 23 in Canada (2 weeks) and No ...

" which would later become one of Honeymoon Suite's biggest hits. After moving to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

he hooked up with singer Johnnie Dee in 1982 and together they recruited the other members to form Honeymoon Suite. Their subsequent demo recording of "New Girl Now" was entered into a contest sponsored by

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Q107 and they won first prize. This exposure led to a record deal with

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

and the band released their first

self-titled An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

album in 1984. Honeymoon Suite (named after the band members' hometown of

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...

) sold over 300,000 copies of their debut in Canada and toured North America and Europe extensively. They were the opening act for many touring acts including

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

and Journey. The band released two more albums during the 1980s ('' The Big Prize'' and ''Racing After Midnight'') and received much exposure when their songs were featured in the hit TV show ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

''. Grehan even played the lead role in a 1986

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

commercial, air-guitaring a solo originally done by

Vinnie Moore Vincent Moore (born April 14, 1964) is an American guitarist and a former member of the British hard rock band UFO (band), UFO. Biography Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. He began his professional career at age 12 after receiving a ...

. Honeymoon suite released three more albums in the 1990s and continued to tour. Into the 2000s, the band remained active with more releases including 2008's '' Clifton Hill'' with Grehan on lead guitar. Grehan relocated to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

with wife and children, and besides working with Honeymoon Suite, was involved locally with 2 side projects: The Dexrays, with Dexter Hebert (drums) and Rich Leigh (bass); and LoveJunk. In 2015 Grehan received three SOCAN Classic Awards based on his songs "New Girl Now", "Burning in Love" and "What Does It Take" having been played more than 100,000 times each on Canadian radio."SOCAN Awards Gala: A Night To Remember"
''FYI Music News'', June 23, 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grehan, Derry Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists 1957 births Living people