A yesteryear flashback to El DeBarge in rare form like you never seen before. On August 16, 1995 we lost Bobby DeBarge original lead singer on the R&B group Switch. This interview was done about a year and a half after Bobby had passed. El was living out that troubled artist when this was filmed. We recorded this interview at the Holiday Inn bar in Emeryville near Oakland, California.
Eldra Patrick “El” DeBarge (June 4, 1961) singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He was the focal point and primary lead singer of the family group DeBarge. Popular songs led by El DeBarge include “Time Will Reveal”, “Stay with Me”, “All This Love”, and “Rhythm of the Night”. As a solo artist, he is best known for his unique high tenor register, strong falsetto and hits like “Who’s Johnny” and “Love Always”. He’s also collaborated with artists such as Dionne Warwick, Al Green, Lalah Hathaway, Babyface, Faith Evans, Quincy Jones, Fourplay, and DJ Quik. DeBarge is a five time Grammy Award nominee.
El admitted that Gaye was a huge influence on his musical style and once commented that he had initially written “All This Love” as a song he imagined Gaye doing; he even imitated Gaye’s ad-libs during his “I Want You” era near the end. That same year, El 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, co-produced with Babyface, yielded modest charted singles such as “Slide” and “Where is My Love” (which featured Babyface on duet vocals).
A native of Detroit, Michigan, El was the sixth of 10 children born to Robert Louis DeBarge, Sr. (1932-2009) and Etterlene (née Abney) DeBarge. DeBarge sang in his local church choir and played 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. When El was 13, his parents divorced after a difficult and stormy marriage. El is of African American, Native American, English, and French descent. Growing up, he was closest to his eldest brother Bobby and began imitating his brother’s vocal styling.
For several years, El spent time in private study with music educator Ricky Callier. By 1975, El had begun to express a desire to become a performer. He became a father for the first time at 16 and eventually fathered 11 more children. In 1977, he dropped out of high school and began performing with his elder brothers in clubs and venues in Michigan. By 1979, Bernd Lichters was able to secure a deal with Source Records/MCA to release the Pall Mall Groove – Hot Ice album as SMASH for the USA/Canada market and moved El from Michigan to Los Angeles, to have him, his brothers Mark and Randy DeBarge, in addition to their cousin Andre Abney, Elliot Townsend, and Stanley Hood, to back up the release as the SMASH band. His eldest sister Bunny joined her brothers in California as well. In 1980, because of the success of their brothers Bobby and Tommy DeBarge with the hit group Switch, El was able to perform live at the piano and sing in front of Motown CEO Berry Gordy, who immediately signed the group, then known as The DeBarges, to the label.
Motown mentored them, and members later worked with and contributed songwriting, arrangements, and production to the recordings of Switch, including the 1980 albums “This Is My Dream” and “Reaching for Tomorrow.” El’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. This song would later be sampled by the likes of Queen Pen and Raheem DeVaughn.
In 2010, he finally emerged from a 16-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 and Best R&B Album. El remains the only member of the DeBarges to have Grammy nominations both outside of the group and in the family.
While DeBarge continued to collaborate with his brother Chico and rapper DJ Quik (with whom El collaborated on Quik’s hit “Hand in Hand.”
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
US US R&B US Dan CAN UK
1978 “There’ll Never Be” 36 6 — 60 — Switch
1979 “I Wanna Be Closer” — 22 — — —
“Best Beat in Town” 69 16 65 — — Switch II
“I Call Your Name” 83 8
