Chris DeGarmo

Christopher Lee DeGarmo (born June 14, 1963) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the former co-guitarist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche from their formation in 1982 until 1997, and with whom he played during their most commercially successful period. He briefly returned for collaborations in 2003.

DeGarmo was a member of Jerry Cantrell's band during his 1998 solo tour, and also contributed to his 2002 album, Degradation Trip. In 1999, he co-founded the short-lived supergroup Spys4Darwin with Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney. Since departing from Queensrÿche, DeGarmo has made his living as a professional private jet pilot. Since 2009, he has been making music with his daughter Rylie DeGarmo under the name The Rue,

Career

Early years DeGarmo was born in Wenatchee, Washington. He would later write about this in "Bridge", from Queensryche's 1994 "Promised Land" album. The song describes DeGarmo's cherished relationship with his grandfather, and the emotional experience of his biological father trying to make amends after years of absence.

In sixth grade, he was in the same class as his future bandmate Scott Rockenfield. DeGarmo joined Interlake High School as a sophomore in 1979, and joined his school-mates in garage bands such as Joker, After he was kicked out of Joker to be replaced with a guitarist who could afford more expensive equipment,

Queensrÿche

Beginnings and major success (1980–1997) In 1980, Wilton and Rockenfield, who was a drummer, had founded a band called Cross+Fire, and DeGarmo and Hovland joined shortly thereafter. They played covers of popular heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Hovland left because he had to commute quite far and wasn't really into Iron Maiden. and which earned the guitarist a BMI songwriter's award.

Departure from the band (1997) DeGarmo left Queensrÿche for undisclosed reasons in late 1997 following the band's tour in support of the band's sixth studio album, Hear in the Now Frontier. His departure was not made public until January 28, 1998. Reflecting on Queensryche's Promised Land era, DeGarmo revealed that he had already considered leaving the band:

I was questioning the long term stability of the group by that point. The level of internal and external dysfunction was unacceptable to me. Apparently, no one else was paying attention, or bothered to compare the successful elements and priorities of our past to our current trajectory.

His remarks appear to be in line with later statements from other band members that burnout and a desire to pursue interests outside of Queensrÿche were the reasons for his departure. For example, Rockenfield has said: "He wanted to pursue other things. He felt like he had done what he wanted musically in his life, and wanted to move on." Mike Stone (2002–2009, 2021-present), and Parker Lundgren (2009–2021).

The Tribe sessions (2003) With an impending deadline to deliver their next album, and the band's strained internal relationships leaving them short on material, a call was placed to DeGarmo to see if he would be interested in contributing songs to the project. After a meeting with Tate, he agreed and took part in the sessions for Tribe, contributing the music to the songs "Falling Behind", "Doin' Fine" and "Art of Life", and co-writing the music to "Desert Dance" and "Open". and especially his high-school friend Wilton. In 2011, DeGarmo commented:

Well, I'll never say never. I don't know how likely it is though. I'm still on good terms with everyone. We're still connected and communicating. We have the chemistry, that's not an issue.

Well, I don't know that even in the beginning I felt an obligation other than to myself to love music and write music. I still do both of those. I love music and listen to music all the time. I still write as well. As far as it being shared, that is more complex. I have a personal obligation to my creative self that hasn't changed. Whether it will ever see the light of day in a listenable form for others ... that remains a question mark. I'd like it to happen though. I'm sure someone would appreciate a listen. It's not out of the question. — Chris DeGarmo leading to a court case that has temporarily allowed both parties to use the band's name and has caused a division among the fans. Although DeGarmo has refrained from publicly commenting on any of this, both sides have talked with restraint about DeGarmo's opinion regarding the current band situation, and they suggest that he has remained friends with both parties. Tate said about his relationship with DeGarmo in 2013: "We're friends. We see each other probably once a month—play golf, have lunch.", though in 2024 contradicted this, saying he has not had any form of contact with DeGarmo since around 2003.

DeGarmo's post-Queensrÿche musical career includes collaborations with guitarist Jerry Cantrell (as a touring guitarist in 1998, and an appearance on the 2002 Degradation Trip studio album playing slide guitar on the track Anger Rising), and with singer Vinnie Dombroski from Sponge, Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez and drummer Sean Kinney in the short-lived project Spys4Darwin, which DeGarmo co-founded with Kinney in 1999 after they toured as part of Jerry Cantrell's band on his Boggy Depot tour. The group released one EP in 2001, Microfish,

On February 18, 2005, DeGarmo joined the remaining members of the popular rock band Alice in Chains and other Seattle area artists for the Tsunami Continued Care Relief Concert. He assisted the rock band Dredg with the production and arrangement of their 2005 studio album Catch Without Arms, and he has written a few film score songs with Dredg's frontman Gavin Hayes. In 2013, Rockenfield said: "His daughter is a singer and he helps her a little bit on the songs. Otherwise, he mostly does music on the side. Chris recently told me, that he is absolutely happy with his life the way it is."

In 2020, DeGarmo accompanied Lily Cornell Silver on a rendition of Black Gives Way to Blue as part of a tribute made by various artists to Alice in Chains, as they were the receivers of that year's Founders Award by the Museum of Pop Culture. DeGarmo played guitar for Silver, who sang and played the piano.

Discography

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche (1983) The Warning (1984) Rage for Order (1986) Operation: Mindcrime (1988) Empire (1990) Operation: Livecrime (1991) Promised Land (1994) Hear in the Now Frontier (1997) Tribe (2003)

Spys4Darwin microfish (2001)

Jerry Cantrell Degradation Trip (2002)

The Rue The Rue (2015)

Alice in Chains Rainier Fog (2018)

Soundtrack appearances Title Release With Soundtrack "Prophecy" 1988Queensrÿche The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years "Last Time in Paris" 1990 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane "Real World" 1993 Last Action Hero