chico debarge
Following a tour and an appearance on the Punky Brewster show, Bobby and younger brother Chico DeBarge, then riding high off the success of his single, “Talk to Me”, was arrested in Grand Rapids, Michigan for drug trafficking serving five years in prison in Milan. [1]
Chico DeBarge is a member of the legendary DeBarge family of singers and musicians, which was active as a group from the late 1970s through the late 1980sh. [2]
Jonathan Arthur “Chico” DeBarge (born June 23, 1966 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B singer and a younger brother of the members of the Motown family act DeBarge. [3]
Brother to the singing DeBarge family, Chico launched a promising solo career on Motown in the late ’80s. [4]
The remaining brothers soldiered on with their older brother Bobby (who’d long since left Switch) now joining the band to release the album Bad Boys in 1987, but it didn’t achieve nearly the success of previous releases. [1]
Despite a hit single and a hit debut album, his career was sidelined by imprisonment on a drug charge. [4]
Although the album included the Top 10 R&B/Top 21 pop hit “Talk to Me,” it only peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard albums chart. [2]
Active as a professional recording group between 1979 and 1989, the group was one of the few recording acts to bring success to the Motown label during the 1980s. [...] Meanwhile, El went on to have a moderately successful solo career, and Bunny would score a minor hit with “Save the Best for Me (Best of Your Lovin’)” from her only solo album before being abruptly dropped by her label. [1]
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. [5]
Around the same time, Chico’s brothers Randy, Marty and Tommy, and sister Bunny all struggled with alcohol and drug abuse. [2]
Led by the soft-and-sweet vocals of Eldra (or El, for short), DeBarge issued a debut album in 1981, The DeBarges, which showed that the group had yet to hone their hit-making style. [5]
His older siblings include singers El DeBarge and Bunny DeBarge, plus Tommy & Bobby DeBarge (who were also in the band Switch). [2]
He released a second album with Motown, Kiss Serious, but was imprisoned for drug charges not long after and served time in prison for drug trafficking. [3]
The band signed on with the same label that the Jacksons started with, Motown, courtesy of their two older brothers, Tommy and Bobby (both of whom were members of another Motown act at the time, Switch). [5]
Sources:
[1] DeBarge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2] The Life & Times of Chico DeBarge
[3] Chico DeBarge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[4] Chico DeBarge: Information from Answers.com
[5] DeBarge: Information from Answers.com