Derry Grehan


Derry Grehan is probably best known as the lead guitarist and main songwriter with 
Canada’s Honeymoon Suite, a band that he co-founded with lead singer Johnnie Dee in 
1982 and still records and tours with today. Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Derry 
began his musical training at age 5 when he started piano lessons, and then switched 
to guitar at 11. After a few years of guitar lessons, he opted for the self-taught 
approach listening to the likes of Deep Purple, Hendrix and Santana. Derry played 
with several basement bands throughout high school and recorded his first single 
at 17,with a band known as Stytch.
				
After high school, Derry attended the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College 
in London, Ontario, and received a diploma in Recorded Music Production. It was during
this time that he wrote one of his biggest hits “New Girl Now", which would be recorded 
by Honeymoon Suite some years later.
						
After college, Derry moved to Toronto and recorded with a couple of local bands before 
hooking up with singer Johnnie Dee in 1982. They recruited the original lineup of Dave 
Betts, Ray Cockburnand Gary Lalonde and called the band Honeymoon Suite because of 
their origins in Niagara Falls, Canada. They hit the road for 2 years and then recorded 
a demo of “New Girl Now” and sent it to a local radio station contest. The song was an 
instant hit with listeners and Honeymoon Suite won first prize that year. This led to 
a record deal with Warner Music and the band released their first self-titled lp in 1984.

Honeymoon Suite exploded on to the scene selling 300,000 copies in Canada alone and 
making major inroads in the USA. The band toured relentlessly throughout North America 
and Europe opening for Heart, ZZ Top, Journey and Billy Idol just to name a few. The 
rest of the 80’s saw Honeymoon Suite releasing two more multi-platinum albums with 
“The Big Prize” and “Racing After Midnight”. They also received numerous awards and 
placed their music in TV and films. Derry also got the lead role in a 1986 Pepsi 
commercial.
	
During the 90’s, HMS released 3 more albums (“The Singles”, “Monsters Under the Bed” 
and “13 Live”) and continued to tour. In 2001, Honeymoon Suite released their first 
new studio album in a decade entitled “Lemon Tongue”. As with all previous efforts, 
Derry accounted for the bulk of the songwriting and shared in the production duties 
as well.
						
As we move into 2005, Derry will once again be hitting the road in support of a new 
live DVD, “Honeymoon Suite Live at the Gods Festival”, recorded in England in 2002. 
Outside of HMS, Derry keeps busy with various solo projects and songwriting, and is 
always on the lookout for new artists to co-write with and produce. 

Keep Listening!