Born Eldra DeBarge on June 4, 1961 in Grand Rapids,
Michigan,
El became the lead singer of his family vocal group, DeBarge, in 1
978. He was featured in all the group's hits from 1982 through 1985
when, after a talk with Berry Gordy, he decided to pursue a solo career. El
launched his solo career in 1986 with a self-titled debut album that featured
the number three hit "Who's
Johnny?". The album was certified g
old. El re-emerged after a two-year
pause in his career with the single "Real Love" in 1989, which was followed
by the album, "Gemini". He also worked with musical legend Quincy Jones on the song, "The
Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" in 1990. El showed the world
his musical flexibility with the 1992 release of "In The Storm". In 1994,
El
released Heart Mind & Soul, produced by Babyface. He also collaborated with
such artists as Fourplay, Andrae Crouch, DJ Quik, Patti
Austin, Dionne Warwick, Tone Loc and Warren G from the mid 90's through 2002.
El continues to produce tracks for new artists and for some of the most popular artists of our time, including his younger brothers, Chico & Darell (a.k.a. Young). He has made guest appearances at Chico's shows and has been seen at venues with his brothers. If you get the opportunity to see him perform live, don't miss out. El's compilation album entitled "El DeBarge-Ultimate Collection" was released in August 2003 and in 2004, he produced the song, "Mystic's Spot" for Urban Mystic, on which he sings background. El performed two songs on his brother Darrell's 2005 album, "The Hunt", and has also collaborated on a song with brothers Chico and James on Chico's CD, released in 2009. El still has that vocal magic and was in the studio in 2008, recording new material for an upcoming album. He and Chico have collaborated on a new project as well. El does background on a song entitled "Up Again" on RZA's newly released CD, "Digi Snacks". He's also featured on three songs on George Clinton's new CD released in September 2008. El has performed at venues across America during the past year, including New Year's Eve & Mother's Day. He did a show at Steinlager Pure Mega 80's Music Festival at The Waterfront at Aloha Tower Marketplace in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 14, 2008, Country Club Hills Theater in Illinois on August 29, 2008 and had several shows at Yoshi's Jazz Club at Jack London Square in Oakland September 12-14, 2008. El was slated to appear as one of George Clinton's special guest performers at BB Kings during the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City on October 23, 2008. Unfortunately, no special guests appeared. El kept his focus on releasing a new album in 2010.
El 's new CD, "Second Chance"...his first in years, was released on November 30, 2010. The track listing for his deluxe CD follows...
'Second
Chance' Disc 1 Tracklist:
1)
Lay With You - feat. Faith Evans
2) Heaven
3) Close To You
4) Format - feat. 50 Cent
5) When I See You
6) How Can You Love Me
7) Serenading
8) 5 Seconds - feat. Fabolous
9) Joyful
10) Sexy Lady
11) Sad Songs
12) The Other Side
13) Second Chance
.
'Second Chance' Christmas Bonus Disc 2 Tracklist:
1)
Silent Night
2) Christmas Without You
3) Heart Full of Love
His title track released on August 17th and is still available on iTunes
and Amazon. You can also find El's singles, "5 Seconds" and "Lay With You" online.
In 2010, El began touring, holding autograph sessions, and making TV appearances in support of his new CD. This includes his performance on Lopez Tonight on January 12, 2011 and on BET's "Celebration of Gospel", which aired January 30, 2011. He was also in a commercial for FIAT
El premiered the video for his single "Second Chance" on BET's 106th & Park on August 18, 2010.
WKAZ held an exclusive Meet & Greet for August 24, 2010. (Photos below courtesy WZAKCleveland)
El was also touring radio stations to promote his album. Below are links to two of his August 2010 interviews.
Click here to view more videos on the media page.
As mentioned on the DeBarge Family page, El made quite a few 'surprise' appearances. He performed a duet of "I Like It" with Keri Hilson at the Essence Music Festival on July 3, 2010. (See photos here.)
El also performed at The Gold Room in Atlanta on August 16, 2010. He wowed the crowd at the Black Enterprise/Pepsi Golf & Tennis Challenge during the 2010 Labor Day weekend. El also headlined at Tom Joyner's Family Reunion in Florida. He received rave reviews, of course! El was in Birmingham on September 14, 2010 for an "After Work Affair" at Rogue Tavern. (Click here to see a clip.) He kicked off his solo concert tour on October 6, 2010!
El took part in an all-star tribute to Chaka Khan at "UNCF An Evening of Stars" at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California September 25, 2010. The tribute aired nationwide January 29-30, 2011. H
e also toured with Mary J. Blige in October 2010 and participated in Will.i.am's weeklong Twitter campaign called "i.am W/U MR. PRES!," in support of President Obama's 2012 re-election. A video was shot at Record Plant Studios in Hollywood on November 13, 2010 and was tweeted on Thanksgiving Day.
El was nominated for a 2010 Soul Train Record of the Year award for 'Second Chance'. The award show taped at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, Georgia on November 10, 2010 and aired on BET and Centric November 28, 2010.
On November 29, 2010, El performed 6 songs live and conducted an intimate interview on Sirius Satellite radio's "Heart & Soul" during their special airing, "Up Close And Personal With El DeBarge". Later that night, Samsung hosted a CD Listening Experience at Columbus Circle. El stopped by the Wendy Williams Show on November 22, 2010 for an interview and to perform his new song, "When I See You". He also performed at BET's 106 & Park with Faith Evans on November 29. El's album release concert was held in New York City on November 30, 2010. Details can be accessed here.
On December 8, El made an appearance on The Mo-Nique Show. He also sat for an interview on the Tavis Smiley show on December 15 and was on The View on December 22.
On December 1, 2010, El was nominated for two Grammy awards for his new song "Second Chance": Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. The Grammy Awards aired February 13, 2011 on CBS.
El was a guest during Fantasia Barrino's tour. He joined her at Desoto County Civic Center in Southaven, MS on December 1, 2010 and UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA on December 4, 2010.
El covered the October 2010 issue of Ebony magazine, the December 13, 2010 issue of Jet magazine, and the February 10, 2011 cover of Rolling Out magazine! (click the third photo below for interview)
On January 31, 2011, El was featured in a reality show on Centric. He also performed at the Grammy Foundation/Centric hosted "Word Revolution: A Celebration of the Evolution of Hip Hop" on February 10, 2011. El also planned to join KEM for his tour beginning February 2011. Unfortunately, El called off his tour dates with KEM when he voluntarily entered a rehab facility. He apologized to his fans and expressed the need to do this in order to continue to give his fans the best performances he feels they deserve.
El made an appearance in the movie "Jumping The Broom", performing the song "How Can You Love Me?" The movie release date was May 6, 2011. He was also on The Wendy Williams Show on June 20 to performing his song, "When I See You".
El's performance at the KBLX Stone Soul concert on May 29th was AWESOME! (Click on the
"KBLX 5/29/11 Concert Review" link on the Articles page to read a review for this and other concerts.) His Summer shows included The City of Lights Jazz Festival in Las Vegas, Stone Soul Concert in California, Essence Music Festival in Louisiana, Macys Music Festival in Ohio and other locations. On July 30, 2011, El signed autographs at the Macy’s Fountain Place Store in downtown Cincinnati.
U
nfortunately, El had to cancel his plans for 2 Japan shows in August 2011. He sent this message: "To My fans in Japan, I am sorry to announce that due to personal and family issues, I will not able to come to Japan as scheduled in August. I am sorry for any inconvenience this caused my loyal fans and hope to come to Japan real soon. One Love to everyone in Japan."
El continues touring and making appearances in 2012. (Click here for more details.)
