Booking Eddie DeGarmo

Throughout his over fifty years in music, Eddie DeGarmo has had a storied career with success as an artist, songwriter, producer, and businessman. He was one of the leading pioneers of contemporary Christian music as part of rock duo DeGarmo & Key, which was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2010. During his 17 years with D&K and a successful solo endeavor, DeGarmo sold millions of albums and garnered 9 Grammy nominations and dozens of Dove Award nominations. He went on to co-found ForeFront Records, where he developed multi-platinum selling and Grammy winning artists such as dc Talk, Stacie Orrico, Audio Adrenaline, Skillet, and Rebecca St. James. DeGarmo eventually sold ForeFront to EMI Christian Music Group to focus on his new venture, Meaux Music Publishing signing many top songwriters and creating such groundbreaking projects as “Hero – The Rock Opera.” In 2002, he rejoined EMI CMG as President of Publishing, and Meaux was subsequently acquired by EMI CMG in 2005. Under DeGarmo’s leadership, EMI CMG Publishing was named Christian Music Publisher of the Year every year he was there since 2004 by both Billboard Magazine and ASCAP. In 2004, and again in 2012 and 2014, EMI CMG Publishing attained that honor with Billboard, ASCAP and BMI, an unprecedented achievement.

DeGarmo led the merger of EMI CMG Publishing with Brentwood Benson Music Publishing to create Capitol CMG Publishing, a powerhouse full-service music publisher which is the largest faith based music publisher in the industry. Capitol CMG Publishing’s roster includes many of the industry’s top songwriters, such as TobyMac, Michael W. Smith, Kirk Franklin, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Third Day, Mandisa, Jeremy Camp, David Crowder, Matt Redman, Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, Aaron Lindsey, David Garcia, Tim Hughes, Brenton Brown and Leeland. CCMGP also encompasses many of the world’s most prominent Christian music catalogs, including sixsteps, Thankyou Music, Integrity, Hillsong, Gaither, and Maranatha! Music. With its unparalleled collection of copyrights and the strength of the Brentwood Benson Music Publications brand, Capitol CMG Publishing is the leader in Christian music publishing worldwide.

Among other industry affiliations, DeGarmo is a “Leadership Music” alumnus, and served many years as a board member of the Gospel Music Association (GMA) Board, as well as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) Board of Governors.  He also served as President of the Church Music Publishers Association (CMPA) for 2008 – 2009. After his retirement from Capitol Christian Music Group in 2014, DeGarmo was retained by CCLI (the largest Church music licensing organization in the world) as their exclusive agent to pursue finding a new home for the business. DeGarmo led the initiative securing a home for them with SESAC, the performance rights licensing giant.

In 2016 DeGarmo re-enrolled in college at Trevecca Nazarene University after leaving Memphis State University to follow his music career in 1977. DeGarmo graduated with his BA from Trevecca in 2017 walking and accepting his diploma with his family and grandchildren in attendance. Subsequently, his auto-biography “Rebel For God” was released by Regnery/Salem Publishers. DeGarmo recently took on the new roll of school teacher teaching “Lifeskills” twice a week at Renew Christian Academy in Franklin, Tennessee.

In 2024, Lionsgate motion pictures released “Unsung Hero.” The story dramatizes the Smallbone family with six children through-out their difficult journey from Australia to the USA after the father, David Smallbone loses everything in a business bankruptcy including their home in Australia. DeGarmo is depicted in the movie several times as he was instrumental in the story discovering and signing Rebecca St. James and assisting the family to turn their trials to success. Ultimately, his vision remains unchanged: “I still have a passion for making great music that changes lives.”