Remembering Bill Hearn
William Ray “Bill” Hearn, Chairman & CEO of the Nashville-based Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG), passed away Sunday, Dec. 10 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. He was 58. Hearn was instrumental in the formation and leadership CCMG, having played a leading role in the sale and highly successful transition of family-owned Sparrow Records — founded by his father, Billy Ray Hearn — to EMI Music in 1992. Through multiple acquisitions, Hearn evolved Sparrow into EMI Christian Music Group, and was appointed CEO in 1996. The company, which was renamed Capitol Christian Music Group in 2013, encompasses CCMG Label Group (Sparrow Records, ForeFront Records, sixstepsrecords, Hillsong, Jesus Culture), Motown Gospel and CCMG Publishing (including Brentwood-Benson Music Publications).
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group, said, “Bill Hearn led Capitol Christian Music Group like the family business it is: with his unique passionate and mission-driven leadership. Anyone who has walked through the doors there knows that it overflows with a special spirit that emanated from Bill himself. That spirit and the people of CCMG are among Bill’s great legacies. We are privileged to have known Bill, and especially blessed to call him a colleague and friend.” Capitol Music Group Chairman Steve Barnett said, in part, “Bill was more than a colleague; he was a friend to all of us and a dedicated leader and mentor for so many within our company. His remarkable accomplishments and contributions to music will forever remain an important part of CMG’s legacy, and, most important, we will forever remember his generous spirit and sense of humanity in our hearts.”
Among his numerous accomplishments, Hearn received the TJ Martell Foundation’s Frances Preston Lifetime Music Industry Achievement Award in 2015 for his contribution to the music industry. He won Grammy Awards in 1995 and 2006 for his role as Compilation Producer for Amazing Grace, A Country Salute To Gospel and Oh Happy Day: A Gospel Music Celebration, respectively. He was honored with The Recording Academy’s President’s Merit Award in 2006. Hearn is survived by his wife, Charmion Gustke Hearn, two sisters, a niece and nephew.
