The DeBarge siblings: Bunny, Chico, & El

Artist: Bunny DeBarge

LP: 7" single

Song: "Save the Best For Me (Best of Your Lovin')"

[ listen ]

The eldest and only female of the humongous musical DeBarge family, Etterlene "Bunny" DeBarge mainly stayed in the background, writing songs and singing backing vocals for the group. Bunny finally broke free and released a solo record in 1986, which included the top-20 R&B single "Save the Best For Me." She was then promptly dropped from her label. Sadly, stardom was tough on Bunny and she turned to hard drugs to help her cope. While working to overcome an addiction to prescription drugs in the 1990s, Bunny returned to her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she became a born-again Christian and began performing gospel music. In 2008 she published a memoir called "The Kept Ones," which you can purchase for over $100 here. Go here to read more about Bunny DeBarge on Wikipedia, and you can learn more about her famous singing family here.

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 Artist: Chico DeBarge

LP: 7" single

Song: "Talk to Me"

[ listen ]

Jonathan Arthur "Chico" DeBarge was just 13 years old when DeBarge was formed in 1979, so he was never a part of his older siblings' singing group. He was only 20 years old when he released his first record on Motown, which included "Talk to Me," a top-ten R&B hit that peaked at #21 on the Hot 100 singles charts. Sadly, after the release of his second LP, "Kiss Serious" in 1988, Chico was thrown into prison for drug trafficking. He reappeared nine years later with the appropriately-titled "Long Time No See" and has released several albums in the years since then. Chico has five children, one of which he named "Chicoco," and he survived being stabbed outside a Philadelphia nightclub back in 2003. Chico evidently received some disastrous advice from Motown's fashion department for the sleeve of his "Talk to Me" single, later blossoming into a very handsome fellow once that messy black poodle of a hairdo was cut away from his head. You can read more about Chico here.

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 Artist: El DeBarge

LP: 7" single

Song: "Someone"

[ listen ]

The 6th of the ten DeBarge kids, Eldra Patrick "El" DeBarge was born in June of 1961 and was lead vocalist of the DeBarge family singing group I keep mentioning here. His beautiful falsetto adorned such DeBarge hits as "Time Will Reveal," "All This Love," and "Love Me In a Special Way" before Motown founder Berry Gordy encouraged him to go solo in 1986. El immediately hit gold with the bouncy and annoying "Who's Johnny," which was a #1 R&B hit, a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and was featured in the film SHORT CIRCUIT, starring Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg. "Someone" was the third single released from El's first solo album (after "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always"), and it peaked at #32 on the R&B charts and at #70 on the Hot 100. El continued releasing critically-acclaimed albums throughout the 1990s, though his popularity began to wane. Sadly, El was arrested a number of times in the 2000s on drug charges, and was finally sentenced to prison in 2008. Once in the slammer, El took stock of his life, became a born-again Christian, and began setting his life back on track after being released from prison in 2009. His "Second Chance" LP debuted in November of 2010, and the record's first single earned a pair of Grammy nominations. Unfortunately, El was unable to attend the awards ceremony due to suffering a relapse and then checking himself into a rehab center. More info about El DeBarge, whom I've always considered to be one of the best-looking men in the music business (those bedroom eyes!), can be found on Wikipedia here.