El DeBarge
Birth name Eldra Patrick DeBarge
Born (1961-06-04) June 4, 1961 (age 51)
Detroit, Michigan
Origin Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Genres R&B, pop, soul
Occupations Singer-songwriter, music arranger, music composer, record producer, instrumentalist
Instruments Vocals, piano/keyboards
Years active 1979–present
Associated acts DeBarge, Switch, Chico DeBarge

Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge [1] (born June 4, 1961) is an American R&B/pop singer-songwriter, known as the lead singer and co-founder of the R&B/soul music 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 is a three-time Grammy nominee.[2][3]

Contents

Life and career [link]

Early life [link]

A native of Detroit, Michigan, El was the sixth of ten children born to Robert Louis DeBarge, Sr. (1932–2009) and Etterlene (née Abney) DeBarge. DeBarge was already singing in his local church choir and playing piano as a child. Later after his family moved to Grand Rapids, he and the rest of his family began performing at their uncle's Pentecostal church. At thirteen, his parents divorced after a difficult and stormy marriage. El is of African American, English, French Canadian and Native American descent. Growing up, he was closest to eldest brother Bobby and began imitating his brother's vocal styling.

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, Gregory 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.

Motown mentored them with members later working and contributing songwriting, arrangements and production to the recordings of Switch, including the 1980 albums, This Is My Dream and Reaching for Tomorrow. El DeBarge's first professional recording was as background vocalist to Switch's 1979 hit, "I Call Your Name". He later helped to arrange music for several Switch songs including "Love Over and Over Again" and "My Friend in the Sky", which he, Bunny and Bobby wrote. The song later would be sampled by the likes of Queen Pen and Raheem DeVaughn.

Music career [link]

Main article: DeBarge

In 1981, The DeBarges was released after the family had worked in the studio for a year recording it. The album was noted for most of its songs produced and written by all four family members including Bobby DeBarge, who helped end the album track, "Queen of My Heart" after El had led the song for most of its tenure. The following album, 1982's All This Love featured younger brother James and saw much success with the compositions, "I Like It" and the title track. El would remain the producer and arranger for all of the group's Motown albums.

In 1983, DeBarge released In a Special Way, which spawned the hits "Time Will Reveal" and "Love Me in a Special Way" and in 1984, the band became a sensation while touring for Luther Vandross on the singer's Busy Body tour. Though the group enjoyed much success and appeared to be a family unit, there was growing tensions between El and his brothers mainly because of Motown's push to have El become the only noted star of the group, repeating a pattern that began with Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. By the end of the tour, El DeBarge was mainly called to handle the production of DeBarge's next album, Rhythm of the Night, without much help from his siblings.

Rhythm of the Night became the group's best-selling album ever though some contended that El DeBarge was the only member present on the album with the exception of the title track, which became a top five hit in several countries including the US and UK becoming the group's and El's signature song. In 1986, El DeBarge left the group and began his solo career with the release of his self-titled debut album, which spawned the hits, "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always". Three years passed, however, until DeBarge released his second album, Gemini in 1989. The album was a failure and DeBarge's contract with Motown was terminated in 1990 and he signed with Warner Bros.. In the meantime, DeBarge was featured on the Quincy Jones single, "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)", alongside Al B. Sure!, James Ingram and Barry White, released in 1990.

In 1992, DeBarge released his third album, the Maurice White-produced In The Storm, which featured the Chante Moore duet, "You Know What I Like", which was Moore's first professional recording. Critics noted the album for its Marvin Gaye-styled productions, with El DeBarge later admitting that Gaye was a huge influence on his musical style. He once commented that he had initially written "All This Love" as a song he imagined Gaye doing, even imitating Gaye's ad-libs during his I Want You era near the end. That same year, he had chart success on the R&B charts with a collaboration with Fourplay on their version of Gaye's "After the Dance". DeBarge's next album, 1994's Heart, Mind and Soul, was co-produced with Babyface, yielding modest charted singles such as "Slide" and "Where is My Love" (which featured Babyface on duet vocals).

While DeBarge continued to collaborate on other artists' projects including brother Chico and rapper DJ Quik among others (the duo collaborated on Quik's hit "Hand In Hand"), he didn't release any more albums between 1994 and 2009. In 2010, he finally emerged from a sixteen-year delay with the appropriately titled Second Chance, released after a series of comeback performances and appearances including a well received performance at the 2010 BET Awards. The album yielded two singles, "Second Chance" and the Faith Evans duet "Lay With You", and later resulted in three Grammy Award nominations: Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song,[2] and Best R&B Album.[3] He remains the only member of the DeBarges to have Grammy nominations outside of the group and in the family altogether.

Personal life [link]

El was raised in Detroit and Grand Rapids as a child. El's parents had a tumultuous marriage that involved domestic abuse and child abuse on the part of El's father Robert. El has remained mum on his relationship with his father and many other elements of his family life, later documented in books written by his mother Etterlene, sister Bunny and brother Tommy. In 1976, El DeBarge became a father to his first child, a daughter named Adris. He eventually went on to father eleven children altogether. He had a set of twins that died from Dallas, Texas. El was close to his siblings, particularly his brothers Bobby and Chico. Bobby DeBarge's death in 1995 had a profound effect on El, family members later saying he has never fully recovered from Bobby's death. Since Bobby's death, he has performed several of Bobby's songs with Switch onstage, sometimes with Chico DeBarge singing along. El and several DeBarge brothers reunited in 1998 performing several DeBarge classics. El currently lives in Los Angeles.

Legal problems and drug addiction [link]

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.

El has had a history of drug abuse. He stated that his addiction started after he began receiving prescription medication for toothache pain after having a tooth pulled by a dentist. Up until then, El DeBarge had been seen as reliable, especially in comparison to his siblings, whose accounts of drug abuse started during the tenure of the group. By the mid-1990s, El had become addicted, and his addiction resulted in his career faltering after its peaks in the 1980s. Following a prison sentence in which he served two years, El declared himself born again and announced that he had found sobriety after an addiction that he said had lasted nearly 25 years, stating he had also acknowledged his problems with the law in the past.

However in February 2011, while promoting Second Chance, DeBarge's label announced that the singer was canceling all public dates and appearances as he went back to rehab following a relapse.[4] DeBarge has since returned to work and made an appearance at the 54th Grammy Awards in February 2012. He had failed to appear at the previous Grammy Awards due to his drug relapse.

On March 20, 2012, El was arrested in Encino for possession and sale of narcotics.[5] The singer, however, will not be charged because a Los Angeles district attorney found insufficient evidence.

Discography [link]

Studio albums [link]

Year Album details Peak chart
positions		 Certifications
(sales threshold)
US
[6]		 US R&B
[6]
1986 El DeBarge 24 8
1989 Gemini — 35
1992 In the Storm — —
1994 Heart, Mind and Soul
  • Release date: 1994
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
 137 24
2010 Second Chance 57 13
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilation albums [link]

Year Album details
2003 Ultimate Collection

Singles [link]

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US
[8]		 US R&B
[9]		 US Dance
[10]		 US AC
[11]		 NL
[12]		 UK
[13]
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 — — Music & Songs From 'Starlight Express'
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 [link]

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 [link]

References [link]

  1. ^ "El DeBarge - El Busted Again". TMZ.com. 2008-10-27. https://www.tmz.com/2008/10/27/el-debarge-el-busted-again/. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
  2. ^ a b Nominees and Winners (2010)
  3. ^ a b Nominees and Winners (2011)
  4. ^ "El Debarge Enters Rehabilitation, Cancels Tour - Celebrity Circuit". CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20031962-10391698.html. Retrieved 2012-03-29. 
  5. ^ Loinaz, Alexis L.. "msnbc.com Entertainment - El DeBarge arrested again for drug possession". Entertainment.msnbc.msn.com. https://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/21/10791921-el-debarge-arrested-again-for-drug-possession. Retrieved 2012-03-29. 
  6. ^ a b "allmusic ((( El DeBarge > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Allmusic. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p69413. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
  7. ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - June 29, 2010: El DeBarge certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=El%20DeBarge&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
  8. ^ "El DeBarge Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200?tag=chscr1#/artist/el-debarge/chart-history/54671. Retrieved December 23, 2010. 
  9. ^ "El DeBarge Album & Song Chart History - R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200?tag=chscr1#/artist/el-debarge/chart-history/54671?f=367&g=Singles. Retrieved December 23, 2010. 
  10. ^ "El DeBarge Album & Song Chart History - Dance/Club Play Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200?tag=chscr1#/artist/el-debarge/chart-history/54671?f=359&g=Singles. Retrieved December 23, 2010. 
  11. ^ "El DeBarge Album & Song Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200?tag=chscr1#/artist/el-debarge/chart-history/54671?f=341&g=Singles. Retrieved December 23, 2010. 
  12. ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Dutch charts portal". Hung Medien. https://www.dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?search=El+DeBarge&cat=s. Retrieved December 23, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Chart Stats - El DeBarge". chartstats.com. https://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=4612. Retrieved December 23, 2010. 

External links [link]

DeBarge
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
Related topics

https://wn.com/El_DeBarge

El DeBarge (album)

El DeBarge is the self-titled debut album by El DeBarge. It was released in 1986 on Gordy Records (a sub-label of Motown and featured the hit singles, "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always". Singer/actress Vanity featured on backing vocals on the track, "Secrets Of The Night". This album went gold.

Track listing

  • "Who's Johnny" (Peter Wolf, Ina Wolf) – 4:11
  • "Secrets Of The Night" (Albert Hammond, Diane Warren) – 4:20
  • "I Wanna Hear It From My Heart" (Warren) – 4:25
  • "Someone" (Jay Graydon, Mark Mueller, Robbie Nevil) – 4:45
  • "When Love Has Gone Away" (Jack Conrad, Larry Henley) – 3:08
  • "Private Line" (Diane Warren) – 3:48
  • "Love Always" (Burt Bacharach, Bruce Roberts, Carole Bayer-Sager) – 5:32
  • "Lost Without Her Love" (Randy Goodrum, Graydon) – 4:35
  • "Thrill Of The Chase" (Alan Roy Scott, Roy Freeland, Gary Pickus) – 3:47
  • "Don't Say It's Over" (Diane Warren) – 4:32

    • Reception

    Jason Elias of Allmusic rated El DeBarge two-and-a-half out of five stars. He stated: "While the setup and idea are still exciting on paper, [the album] is a disappointment." He also stated that "the majority of the [...] tracks just don't do anything to enliven the product or accentuate his voice", and concluded by saying: "The fact that DeBarge didn't have a hand in producing or writing the songs all but made this ho-hum from the start."

    Read more
    This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/El_DeBarge_(album)

    Love Always

    Love Always is the debut album of American R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, released on June 17, 1997, by MCA Records. It was recorded at various studios in New York and the Los Angeles area in 1996 and 1997. It was produced by JoJo and several others, including DeVante Swing, Jon-John Robinson, James Mtume, and Jeff Redd. The duo were originally a part of Jodeci before this album.

    The album peaked at sixth on the US Billboard 200 and also appeared on international charts. The single "All My Life" charted number one in multiple countries, and all four of the album's singles peaked above the top 25 in the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and the New Zealand Top 40 Singles. Love Always was received favorably by critics, who praised the brothers' singing ability and the production. The album has been certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and gold by Music Canada and IFPI Sweden. As of June 1999 it had sold 2.9 million copies in the United States.

    Background

    Read more
    This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Love_Always

    Podcasts:

    El DeBarge

    ALBUMS

    Second Chance

    Released 2010

    Ultimate Collection

    Released 2003

    Gemini

    Released 1989

    El DeBarge

    Released 1986

    Heart, Mind & Soul

    In the Storm

    Email this Page Play all in Full Screen Show More Related Videos
    PLAYLIST TIME:

    El DeBarge: Ultimate Collection

    by: El Debarge

    Baby you can't go on
    Wondering where you belong
    Let me help you find yourself
    Cause you don't need nobody else
    Ahh you should be right here with me babe
    Instead of going round this frantic town
    And start messin around
    With all the lonely lonely people out there
    No one to care
    Why don't you come and stay with me
    Because I love you so
    You tell me you love me so
    Why do you have to go
    Everything you'll ever need
    You will find right here with me
    Ahh you should be right here with me babe
    Instead of going round this frantic town
    And start messin around
    With all the lonely lonely people out there
    No one to care
    Why don't you come and stay with me
    Because I love you so
    Stay with me, Stay with me
    Stay with me, Stay with me
    Stay with me, Stay with me
    Stay with me, Stay with me
    Stay with me...
    Ahh you should be with me babe
    Ahh you shouldn't go no where
    And all I'm trying to tell you babe
    Happiness is waiting for you
    So won't you stay with me? So won't you stay with me?
    I got what you need
    So won't you stay with me?
    Don't go nowhere baby, don't go, no, no
    I got what ya need
    So won't you stay with me?
    Don't go, Don't go, I love you so
    (Repeat 3x to fade)




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