Mark "Marty" DeBarge (born June 19, 1959) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

R&B/

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer-songwriter, drummer, percussionist, and plays a variety of wind instruments, such as the saxophone, flugelhorn, trumpet, and flute. He is best known for his work as member of 1980s

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

singing family group

DeBarge DeBarge was an American musical recording group composed of several members of the DeBarge family. In addition to various solo projects completed by members of the family, DeBarge was active between 1979 and 1989. The group originally consisted ...

. He is also known for writing the group's popular album track, " Stay With Me", later covered by the likes of

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

, Ashanti and

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

Biography

Early years

Mark was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

as the fifth of ten children to Robert Louis DeBarge, Sr. (1932-2009) and Etterlene (née Abney) DeBarge. His father, Robert DeBarge, is of French descent, while his mother, Etterlene, is of African American and American Indian descent. DeBarge sang in his local church choir as a child. Later, after his family moved to

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, he and the rest of his family began performing at Bethel Pentecostal church, where his uncle William Charles Abney, Jr. was pastor. His father Robert was reportedly physically and sexually abusive towards his children, leading to his and Etterlene’s divorce in 1974. DeBarge and his brothers and sister were inspired by

singers such as

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

and brother

Bobby DeBarge Robert Louis DeBarge, Jr. (March 5, 1956 – August 16, 1995) was an American singer and musician. DeBarge was the lead singer of the Motown R&B/soul vocal group Switch and was noted for his falsetto vocals. Later on, he served as both mentor ...

, who was the writer, lead singer, and pianist for the group

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

in the late 1970s. In 1980,

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

signed Mark DeBarge and his brothers El and

Randy Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

and sister

Bunny Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit spec ...

to a recording contract, with the group being known as

. The group released their debut album, ''

The DeBarges ''The DeBarges'' is the debut album of DeBarge, released by Gordy Records on April 6, 1981. It saw limited success and stalled on the charts; the group felt it was not properly promoted. As a result, they revisited ''The DeBarges'' by including t ...

'' on April 6, 1981.

DeBarge

By the time the group's second album, 1982's '' All This Love'' was released, brother

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

had joined the group. The second album was the group's first album to score hits and included songs such as " I Like It" and " All This Love", which featured Mark on backing vocals as well as playing the flugelhorn. Throughout the 1980s, other DeBarge hits included "

Love Me in a Special Way "Love Me In a Special Way" is a single by DeBarge, released on November 20, 1983. It was the second and final single from their third studio album, ''In a Special Way'' on the Gordy label. Overview The song was written, composed, arranged and pro ...

", "

Time Will Reveal :''For the song by DeBarge, see Time Will Reveal (song)'' ''Time Will Reveal'' is the fourth studio album by the American West Coast hip hop group Above the Law. Released in 1996 by Tommy Boy Records, it was the group's first record after leavin ...

", " Rhythm of the Night", and "

Who's Holding Donna Now "Who's Holding Donna Now" is a 1985 hit single recorded by DeBarge for the Gordy label. It was their second consecutive Top 10 Pop hit in the U. S. after the release of " Rhythm of the Night". After recording the successful dance single, the grou ...

". Mark remained in the group when brother El and sister Bunny left in 1986 for solo careers. Brother

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

joined the group. DeBarge was released from Motown following the departure of El and Bunny and the group signed with the independent Striped Horse Records. Soon after, the new DeBarge line-up released the album '' Bad Boys'', but it contained no hit singles. DeBarge split up in 1989 after the convictions of brothers Bobby and Chico on drug trafficking charges. Mark, El, James, Randy, Bunny, twins Darryl and Carol, and all the siblings' mother Etterlene got together as The DeBarge Family and released the 1991 gospel album ''Back on Track''.

Later years

Mark is the father of six children. A girl, four boys, and another child: Lakeysha, Mark Jr., Devyn, Piper, Michael, and Giovanni Debarge. Mark DeBarge lives in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

according to mother Etterlene in an article about his family in '' Jet''.Jet Magazine March 3, 2008
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Discography

;with DeBarges * ''

'' (1981) * '' All This Love'' (1982) * ''

In a Special Way ''In a Special Way'' is the third studio album by American R&B group DeBarge, released by Gordy Records on September 24, 1983. It was recorded at Kendun Records in Burbank and Westlake Audio in West Hollywood; written and produced by lead vocal ...

'' (1983) * '' Rhythm of the Night'' (1985) * '' Bad Boys'' (1987) * '' Back on Track'' (1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debarge, Mark 1959 births Living people 20th-century American singers Musicians from Grand Rapids, Michigan DeBarge members American trumpeters American male trumpeters American saxophonists American male saxophonists American soul singers American tenors African-American male singers American contemporary R&B singers DeBarge family Singers from California 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century trumpeters Songwriters from California Songwriters from Michigan Singers from Detroit 21st-century saxophonists African-American songwriters