Age 22 to 31 1980 – 1989

DeBarge (Bunny, Randy, Mark, El and James)

Forming in 1979 as The DeBarges, the band originally included four members – Bunny, Randy, Mark and El – moved to Los Angeles and signed with Motown where they went under a two-year training process by Motown’s staff before releasing their first album in 1981.

With the inclusion of 18-year-old James (Janet’s Ex) in early 1982, the group changed their name to DeBarge and released their first million-selling album, All This Love, later that year.

Following a new lineup – now featuring James DeBarge in the fold – the newly christened quintet, DeBarge, record a mostly self-penned and produced album titled All This Love in 1982. After releasing the dance single, “Stop! Don’t Tease Me”, the group released the smoother “I Like It”, in January 1983. Featuring lead vocals from Randy and El, the song raced up to number two on the Billboard R&B singles chart while also crossing over to pop radio eventually peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A second single, the sole El DeBarge composition, “All This Love”, became an even bigger hit reaching number one on the R&B chart and peaking at number 17 on the pop chart and also becoming the group’s first number-one hit on the Billboard AC chart. Its success helped its parent album reach gold status.

DeBarge made their first live appearance on Motown 25, where they performed a number with fellow Motown band High Inergy.

From 1982 to 1985, DeBarge released three gold-certified albums and released more than ten hit singles. After disbanding shortly in 1986, a reinvented version of the group now featuring Bobby DeBarge and excluding El and Bunny, released a record in 1988 before disbanding the following year due to Bobby’s conviction of drug offenses.

Tagged as: 1983, Age 22 to 31 1980 - 1989, Celebs Motown, El Debarge, James Debarge

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