Bobby DeBarge

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Bobby DeBarge
DeBarge circa 1979
DeBarge circa 1979
Background information
Birth nameRobert Louis DeBarge Jr.
Born(1956-03-05)March 5, 1956
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedAugust 16, 1995(1995-08-16) (aged 39)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • composer
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
  • piano
  • percussion
Years active1975–1995
Formerly of

Robert Louis DeBarge Jr. (March 5, 1956 – August 16, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer of the Motown R&B/soul vocal group Switch and was noted for his falsetto vocals. Later, he was both a mentor and a co-producer of his siblings' band, DeBarge, eventually joining them to fill in for El and Bunny, who left. Personal problems, including substance abuse which eventually led to drug trafficking charges in 1988, plagued DeBarge in later years, taking focus away from his musical career. He contracted HIV in the 1980s; he died of AIDS complications in 1995 at age 39.[1][2]

Early life[edit]

Robert DeBarge Jr. was born to Etterlene (née Abney) and Army soldier Robert DeBarge Sr. in Detroit. He had an unhappy childhood because of his father subjected him to abuse.[3] At 15, Robert Jr. was introduced to heroin; it became his lifelong addiction. After his parents separated and divorced in the early 1970s, Bobby and his family relocated to Grand Rapids. A talented instrumentalist and vocalist, he began playing in local bands, along with his younger brother Tommy.[4]

Career[edit]

Main article: Switch (band)

In 1975, after teaming up with fellow Grand Rapids musician Gregory Williams, the duo began a group with several other Midwestern musicians and successfully auditioned for Barry White's background group, White Heat, helping to produce and release their debut album later in the year. In 1976, White dropped all but one musician from the band because of tax issues. The group which consisted of DeBarge, Gregory Williams, Phillip Ingram, Tommy DeBarge, TC Brown, Stanley Brown, Jody Sims, Arnett Hayes, Adam Frye, Darnell Wyrick, MC Clark, and Stanley Hood recorded an album in 1976 with the name Hot Ice, entitled Pall Mall Groove. It included DeBarge's incredible singing and piano performance on his song "Please Don't Let Me Go", released in 1977 on Polydor/Germany and in 1979 in the USA/Canada as SMASH on Source Records/MCA, and in 2005 on Burndsman Records worldwide.

Later that year, Bobby returned to Grand Rapids, despondent that his career hadn't progressed; he went deeper into a heroin addiction. After the break up of White Heat, Gregory Williams remained in Akron, Ohio and sought out new musicians [including Tommy DeBarge, Phillip Ingram, Jody Sims, Eddie Fluellen, MC Clark, and Arnett Hayes to start a new band.

After completing a demo tape, Bobby took it to Motown Records; the label wanted to sign the group, who now called themselves Switch, because of their ability to "switch" playing instruments. Williams suggested that Bobby, seeking a chance to find musical stardom, get clean from his heroin addiction; Bobby vowed to do so. Motown soon signed the group, which now included Bobby's brother Tommy.

A year after they signed, the band released their debut album in 1978. The album featured production from Jermaine Jackson and reached gold status thanks to "There'll Never Be," which was solely written by DeBarge. It also featured a favorite ballad of theirs, "I Want to Be Closer", on which Phillip Ingram and Bobby shared the lead.[5] In 1979, the group hit gold again with Switch II, another Jermaine Jackson-produced album, which included another hit penned by Bobby, "I Call Your Name." Switch became a recording and performing attraction, not only due to the band's overall musicianship but also because of Bobby's multi-octave vocal range.

In 1980, the group had their third gold-selling album, This Is My Dream, which was the group's first album that did not include input from Jackson and which the band's founding members–Bobby, Jody Sims and Williams– co-produced. The album included the hit "Love Over and Over Again". By then, Bobby had become addicted to heroin again after several years of sobriety; he began using cocaine which caused tension between Bobby and Switch group members. Things came to a head in 1981 when following the release of Switch's fifth album Switch V, Bobby suddenly left the group after Motown gave him a solo recording deal which was finalized in 1983. By then, Bobby was overseeing the production of his siblings' albums. He co-produced their debut album and co-wrote with younger brother El the song "Queen of My Heart"; he performed falsetto ad-libs near the end of the recording. The appeared on DeBarge's third album, In A Special Way, on which El himself produced, creating a more polished version.

By 1987, perhaps taking their cue from Bobby splitting from his own group, El and their sister Bunny had left DeBarge pursuing solo careers, with El finding the most success.[6] Bobby had troubles producing his solo debut and his solo career failed to pick up, so he curtailed his aspirations and joined his siblings' group, forming a revamped DeBarge quartet which recorded the album Bad Boys. Bobby and younger brother James split vocal leads on the project. However, Bobby's career came to a halt in 1988 after he was convicted on drug trafficking charges in Grand Rapids and was sentenced to five years in prison. After his release he returned to performing and recording, all the while struggling with AIDS which he contracted sometime in the late 1980s prior to being in prison. He finished his last musical work, It's Not Over, shortly before his death; he was not alive when the album was distributed independently.[7]

Personal life[edit]

For several years, Bobby DeBarge pursued La Toya Jackson of the Jackson family romantically.[8] He mentioned Jackson's song "Night Time Lover" in "You & I", a Switch ballad he wrote in response to her single. By 1984, Bobby had split from Jackson and married Teri with whom he had two children, Christian and Bobby III.[3] Bobby began to be addicted to heroin in the early 1970s and later he developed addictions to cocaine and crack.[9] Bunny and former Switch bandmate Gregory Williams discussed Bobby's bisexuality in Switch's episode of the Unsung series on TV One.[8]

Prison sentence, illness, and death[edit]

In 1988, he was sentenced to five years in a Wisconsin prison for drug trafficking charges. After his release in 1993, he said he would stay off drugs, signing a management agreement with Bernd Lichters (for whom DeBarge with Hot Ice, recorded the Pall Mall Groove album years earlier, as well as signing a management agreement as partnership with Ed Wright in 1985), who guided him during 1994 to record songs he wrote in prison. The resulting album, released in August 1995 on A&E Records just before his death, was entitled It's Not Over. Throughout the year, he laid low in Gregory Williams' California home, before he returned to Michigan for his final days.

While in prison, Bobby confided to his family that he had contracted HIV. When he became gravely ill, his family sent him to a hospice in Grand Rapids. He died of AIDS complications there on August 16, 1995, at the age of 39. He is buried in Garfield Park Cemetery in Grand Rapids.

In popular culture[edit]

In June 2019, nearly two years after TV One first aired Switch's installment of the Unsung series, the network released a biopic about Bobby DeBarge. He was portrayed by Disney alum Roshon Fegan in the film.[10][11]

Discography[edit]

Main article: DeBarge discography
with Switch
with DeBarge
  • Bad Boys (1987)
Solo
  • It's Not Over (1995)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. March 3, 2008.
  2. ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 2, 1995.
  3. ^ a b Gonzales, Michael A. (September 10, 2017). "The Rise and Fall of the DeBarge Family (Episode 3)". Vibe (magazine). Archived from the original on October 17, 2007.
  4. ^ "The Roots of Switch and DeBarge: Home | Burndsman.com | All about The DeBarges and how it started with El, Randy, Chico, Bobby, James, Mark and Tommy". Burndsman.com. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  5. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (1986). Motown: Hot Wax, City Cool & Solid Gold. Doubleday. p. 171. ISBN 9780385197991.
  6. ^ Company, Johnson Publishing (September 25, 1995). Jet. Johnson Publishing Company.
  7. ^ Betts, Graham (June 2, 2014). Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing. ISBN 978-1-311-44154-6.
  8. ^ a b Unsung, Episode 124: "The Story of Switch". Aired July 23, 2017.
  9. ^ Unsung Episode 4: "The DeBarge Family". Aired December 3, 2008.
  10. ^ Kimberly C. Roberts (February 27, 2019). "Bobby DeBarge story comes to TV One". The Philadelphia Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "Now Playing: The Bobby DeBarge Story". portofharlem.net. Retrieved December 8, 2023.

External links[edit]

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