El DeBarge

El DeBarge
Birth name	Eldra Patrick DeBarge
Born	June 4, 1961 (1961-06-04) Detroit, Michigan
Origin	Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Genres	R&B, pop, soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano/keyboards
Years active	1979–present
Associated acts	DeBarge, Switch, Chico DeBarge

Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge (born June 4, 1961) is an American R&B/pop singer known for his signature falsetto, was the lead singer and co-founder of the R&B/soul music group family group DeBarge throughout the early to mid-1980s. As a solo artist, he is best known for the hits "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always" and for his collaborations with Tone Loc, Quincy Jones, Fourplay and DJ Quik. DeBarge was a Grammy nominee in 2010 and 2011.

Biography

Early life

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, El was the sixth of ten children born to Robert Louis DeBarge, Sr. (1932–2009) and Etterlene (née Abney) DeBarge. An admirer of eldest brother Bobby, El was a natural as a pianist and, like the majority of his siblings, participated in the local church choir at his uncle's Pentecostal church. At eleven, El and his family moved to Grand Rapids. Two years later, El's parents divorced after a difficult and stormy marriage. El is of African American, English, French Canadian and Native American descent.

For several years, El spent time being in private study with music educator Ricky Callier. By 1975, El had begun to express a desire to become a performer. El became a father for the first time at fifteen. He would eventually father eleven children. In 1977, he dropped out of high school and began performing with his elder brothers in clubs and venues in Michigan. That year, Greg Williams, a member of brother Bobby's group, Switch began mentoring El and brothers Marty and Randy, helping to record early recordings as part of the SMASH imprint. By 1979, eldest sister Bunny joined her brothers and Williams sent a demo of the siblings' recordings to Motown CEO Berry Gordy, who immediately signed the group, then known as The DeBarges, to the label.

Success with the band DeBarge

In 1981 their first album, titled The DeBarges, failed to chart any singles or the album itself. This first album saw limited success, although this album featured some productions and original compositions by the DeBarge members. The group, especially El, was determined to produce themselves on the next record.

Also at this time the band was still a quartet, consisting of Bunny, Randy, Marty and El. Their younger brother James joined in 1982, and later that year they found success with their second album All This Love, which gave DeBarge major chart success with singles "Stop! Don't Tease Me", the now-classic "I Like It", and the title track, with El gaining credit as producer, writer and lead singer.

In 1983, their next album, titled In a Special Way, garnered yet more success for the group—again with El producing, writing and singing lead in most of the songs—including the hit singles "Time Will Reveal" and "Love Me in a Special Way".

After preparing meticulously for their next album in 1985, the band (and El himself) finally realized an overnight breakthrough with the release of their pop hit "Rhythm of the Night", which was accompanied by a music video with his siblings featured in Berry Gordy's film that same year, The Last Dragon. (The song, written by songstress Diane Warren, was one of her first major hits.) The massively successful title track soared to the top of the charts both in the U.S. and in the United Kingdom. The album of the same name also went to number 3 on the 'Billboard' R&B charts and scored for the band their first platinum album.

El also produced other hits off the album such as "The Heart Is Not So Smart", "Who's Holding Donna Now", "You Wear It Well", and the ballad "Love Always", written and produced by the successful writing duet of Burt Bacharach and Carol Bayer Sager. He also performed the song "You Wear It Well" in an episode of the second season of the television show Miami Vice titled "Bought and Paid For" with a few other members of the band and appeared as himself in an episode of the television show The Facts of Life, also singing the song.

Solo career

After the commercial pop success of "Rhythm of the Night", El was encouraged to leave the group by Berry Gordy, believing that he could continue even further as a solo singer. After he left the band, the remaining members recorded two more albums, but they never retained their initial successes and eventually disbanded.

In 1986 he released his self-titled debut solo album, El DeBarge. "Who's Johnny" was the first single released from that album and was featured in the comedy film Short Circuit. The single was a major success, peaking at #3 in the U.S. The music video for the song featured El with co-actors Ally Sheedy, a cardboard cutout of Steve Guttenberg, and the main character from the movie, a robot called Johnny 5. El also guest starred on an episode of the Disney Channel TV series Sidekicks, where he performed "Thrill Of The Chase".

It took over three years for El to release his second (and last for Motown) solo album in 1989, titled Gemini, but the album and the singles released failed to chart due to waning interest. The album is still considered one of his more smoothly produced, and copies of his album are collector's items since Motown let it go out of print.

In 1990 El teamed up with Quincy Jones to create the successful collaboration "The Secret Garden", a single from 1990 which also featured Barry White, Al B. Sure!, and James Ingram on vocals.

After leaving Motown he signed with Warner Brothers in 1992 and released his third solo album In The Storm, which was produced by Maurice White of Earth Wind and Fire. The album featured several duets: one, with his musical protege Chante Moore on the song "You Know What I Like", peaking at number 14 on the Billboard R&B charts, with his brother James on "Another Chance", and on the song "After the Dance" he shared singing credits with the Smooth Jazz group Fourplay, R&B singer Patti LaBelle. The album itself did not chart in the U.S., but many critics and fans even today still call this album a masterpiece due to its influences in trying to capture the original feeling of Marvin Gaye's album What's Going On.

Two years later, in 1994, El collaborated with hit producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and released his fourth solo effort, Heart, Mind and Soul. "Can't Get Enough", "Slide", and a duet with Babyface titled "Where Is My Love" (with Stevie Wonder playing harmonica on the track) were released as singles, and even though there were a few modest hits, the album itself still did not sell well.

In 1998, El was featured with DJ Quik on hit single "Hand In Hand". Also that year the DeBarge brothers—El, Marty, Randy and James—reunited for several shows, including Sinbad's Summer Jam concert in Aruba, where they performed "I Like It" and "All This Love". Around this time, records released by DeBarge were again being played again due to hip-hop singers and rap acts sampling the group's instrumental sounds.

Legal problems

El has stated on news media outlets, as well as on several talk shows, that he has come to terms with his problems with drug abuse for almost twenty-five years and has acknowledged his problems with the law in the past. In 2001 he was arrested for cocaine possession and was given probation. In 2006 he was arrested again for possession of a controlled substance and was once again given probation. In 2007 he was arrested in a domestic dispute and was held without bail. The charges were later dropped. Later that year he was arrested yet again and charged with cocaine possession and given probation again: however, he was once again arrested in 2008 for possession of crack and drug paraphernalia, breaking the terms of his probation. For this violation he was immediately sentenced to two years in federal prison in California. During this time El re-evaluated his life and realized he could not go on any further without getting off drugs. He attended classes, getting rehabilitation for his drug problems, began to attend religious services, and eventually proclaimed himself a born-again Christian.

"Second Chance" (2010)

He was released from prison in October 2009. After El was released from prison, he began to appear more often in the public eye. El began to make the rounds to set the record straight about himself in a more honest manner. In March 2010, he appeared on The Brian McKnight Show where he talked about the past and finished with performing the song "Time Will Reveal". Also during this time El has appeared on other talk shows (sometimes with his family) to discuss the past as well as his future.

One of his most public appearances was a series of two surprise performances in June at the 2010 BET Awards. The second performance introduced a high energy and crowd-pleasing medley of his biggest hits both as a solo artist as well as lead singer of DeBarge, including "All This Love", "I Like It", "Time Will Reveal", and closing with "The Rhythm Of The Night".

Pete Farmer, a veteran music executive (DeBarge's former manager), began to help DeBarge out by getting his life together and back into the studio to record. Farmer persuaded Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair to sign him to a record deal with the label. Immediately, El began putting together songs and co-executive producing a new album of music, with Farmer as co-executive producer.

The new album, titled Second Chance, was released on November 30, 2010. The first single, "Second Chance", is a very introspective and self-referential ballad; after it was released in August it immediately became popular on many urban contemporary radio stations, and it reached number 41 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single was nominated for two Grammys (2010) in the categories of Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. Other rumored future singles are "5 Seconds", featuring rapper Fabolous, "Switch Up The Format", featuring rapper 50 Cent and "Joyful". The album has been nominated for Best R&B Album in the 2011 Grammy Awards.

In September 2010, El also announced a tour, his first in almost two decades, in support of the new album and as an opening act for R&B singer Mary J. Blige. He was to perform around the United States throughout 2010 and into 2011.

DeBarge appeared on the 2010 Soul Train Music Awards.[1][2]

On Valentine's Day of 2011, DeBarge's record label announced that all appearances, including a tour dubbed "Intimacy" have been postponed and that DeBarge had checked himself into a rehabilitation center, having suffered a relapse. DeBarge did not attend the 2011 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Debarge will resume his comeback activities by performing at the 2011 Essence Music Festivals.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions		Certifications (sales threshold)
		US	US R&B
1986	El DeBarge Release date: 1986 Label: Gordy Records	24	8	US: Gold
1989	Gemini Release date: 1989 Label: Motown Records	—	35
1992	In the Storm Release date: March 17, 1992 Label: Warner Bros. Records	—	—
1994	Heart, Mind and Soul Release date: 1994 Label: Warner Bros. Records	137	24
2010	Second Chance Release date: November 30, 2010 Label: Interscope Records	57	13
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums

Year	Album details
2003	Ultimate Collection Release date: August 26, 2003 Label: Hip-O Records

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions						Album
		US	US R&B	US Dance	US AC	NL	UK
1986	"Who's Johnny"	3	1	10	18	7	60	El DeBarge
	"Love Always"	43	7	—	8	42	—
	"Someone"	70	32	—	20	—	—
1987	"Starlight Express"	—	—	—	30	—	—
1989	"Somebody Loves You"	—	24	—	—	—	—	Gemini
	"Real Love"	—	8	14	—	38	97
1992	"You Know What I Like"	—	14	—	—	—	—	In the Storm
	"My Heart Belongs to You"	—	64	—	—	—	—
	"Another Chance"	—	62	—	—	—	—
1994	"Where Is My Love"	—	19	—	—	—	—	Heart, Mind and Soul
	"Can't Get Enough"	—	21	—	—	—	—
	"Slide"	—	36	—	—	—	—
1995	"Where You Are"	—	86	—	—	—	—
2010	"Second Chance"	—	41	—	—	—	—	Second Chance
	"Lay With You" (featuring Faith Evans)	—	20	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Featured singles

Year	Single	Artist	Peak chart positions			Album
			US	US R&B	US Rap
1991	"All Through the Night"	Tone Lōc	80	56	16	Cool Hand Lōc
1991	"After the Dance"	Fourplay	-	2	-	Fourplay

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External links

• Official website
• "Heart & Soul: El DeBarge 2010 Interview". http://www.soulmusic.com/elde20in.html.