Denny Zager and Rick Evans met in college in Nebraska in the early 1960s and began playing music together. They wrote the song in 1964 and recorded it and released it on the local Truth record label in 1968.
Once the song became a regional hit on radio stations in Nebraska, the duo was picked up by RCA records who released it nationally where it reached the top of the charts for six weeks during the summer of ’69, just in time for man’s first steps on the moon. It was also the number one record in the country during the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival further cementing its message with the hippie generation.
While the duo was never able to follow its sole smash hit up with anything substantial on the charts, they still remain involved in music to this day. Zager makes custom guitars (Zager EZ-Play Custom Guitars) and Evans continues to perform solo.
