Rick Evans is a chart-topping American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer and guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

.

From 1962 he played with the Eccentrics, a group which also included Denny Zager

Denny Zager

Denny Zager was a member of the duo, Zager and Evans. The group is most famous for the number 1 single, "In the Year 2525," released in 1969....

. The group split in 1965. By 1968 Evans and Zager worked as a duo

Duet (music)

A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...

 together and had a number one hit with "In the Year 2525

In the Year 2525

"In the Year 2525 " is a hit song from 1969 by American pop-rock duo Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks commencing July 12, 1969. The song was written by Rick Evans in 1964 and originally released on a small regional record label in 1968...

," written

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 by Evans, allegedly in half an hour, and produced

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 by them both. While "2525" was enjoying its high success, Billboard magazine ran an article that indicated Zager and Evans

Zager and Evans

Zager & Evans were a Lincoln, Nebraska rock-pop duo of the late 1960s and early 1970s named after its two members, Denny Zager and Rick Evans, who met at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Fellow Nebraska artists Dave Trupp and Mark Dalton backed up the duo on drums and bass respectively...

 were heading for huge success in the music business and even compared them to The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

.

Nonetheless, despite several further releases, none of these reached the Top 40 in either the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 or the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The duo duly split up.

Evans went on to a solo career and continued to perform and write songs.

Evans is an alumnus of Nebraska Wesleyan University

Nebraska Wesleyan University

Nebraska Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational university located in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2007, it has 1,600 full-time students and 300 faculty and staff. The school teaches in the tradition of a liberal arts college education....

 where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau

Phi Kappa Tau

Phi Kappa Tau is a U.S. national collegiate fraternity.-History:Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Main Building in Oxford, Ohio on March 17, 1906...

fraternity.