Diana DeGarmo, a country girl from Georgia and American Idol Season 3 Runner-Up just released her first real Country EP, "Live To Love", composed of songs she co-wrote with new fiancé Ace Young, that is digitally distributed through Jimmy Buffett's Mailboat Records. She has multiple Theatre credits including "Hairspray" & "HAIR" on Broadway and was just recently seen as Angelina Veneziano on the Number 1 Daytime TV Drama, "The Young & The Restless."
Diana DeGarmo was born in Birmingham, Alabama on June 16, 1987, but grew up primarily in Snellville, Georgia. Auditioning on American Idol at age 16, DeGarmo went through weeks of auditions before making it to the top 32, where she then sang before a national TV audience. Voted into the top 12 by the American public, DeGarmo impressed with performances like "Think", "One Voice", "No More Tears", "This is It", "Because You Loved Me" and "Don't Cry Out Loud", and after making it to the bottom 3 three times,consistently became a fan favorite, making it all the way to the finals. Losing out to Fantasia Barrino by 1-2% of the vote on May 26, 2004, DeGarmo went on tour with the rest of the top 10. She released her single "Dreams" at the same time, which became the third best selling single of the year. That summer, DeGarmo also recorded her debut album with RCA Records. Released December 7, 2004, "Blue Skies" showcased DeGarmo's amazing range and vocal prowess. The album did not echo well with the public, however, selling under 200, 000 copies. Many attributed this to the paltry promotion given by the label. While promoting the album, DeGarmo worked towards her high school diploma (then just 17) and graduated in 2005 with a 3.8 GPA and as a member of the National Honor Society and The Beta Club, impressive for a teenager juggling a singing career at the same time. In 2005, DeGarmo split with label RCA Records per her request and went on to pursue other opportunities in the entertainment industry.
While DeGarmo had performed in local Atlanta productions of "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Annie" as a child, she made her theatrical debut in a lead role as Maria in the San Jose production of "West Side Story" in November 2005. DeGarmo impressed as Maria with both her singing and natural acting ability. At the end of 2005, DeGarmo also went on a USO tour to entertain the troops in 13 countries overseas, including Afghanistan and Iraq. It was a life-changing experience for DeGarmo. Shortly thereafter, DeGarmo set her sights on Broadway, debuting in the role of nerdy sidekick Penny Pingleton in Broadway's "Hairspray" in February 2006. DeGarmo impressed doubters and fans alike with her comedic prowess, proving herself a highly talented musical theatre actress. She toured with "Brooklyn: The Musical" in the summer of 2006 with Tony Award winners Melba Moore and Cleavant Derricks, then returned to "Hairspray" to reprise her role as Penny until February 2007.
DeGarmo began recording a sophomore Pop/R&B album independently in Atlanta in 2007, but backed out of the project after it took a direction she did not want to take. While participating in the CMT reality TV competition "Gone Country" in 2007, DeGarmo realized her heart was really in country music and decided to return to her roots in the genre, having started singing country music as a child. She now lives in Nashville and performs as a country singer/songwriter. In early 2009, DeGarmo released "Unplugged in Nashville", an acoustic EP of four of her original songs and served as co-writer on all tracks. She now splits her time between her country music career and her musical theatre career, having spent most of 2009 dedicated to the latter (Back to Bacharach and David, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Off-Broadway's The Toxic Avenger Musical).
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