Etterlene DeBarge

Etterlene "Mama" Abney DeBarge Rodriguez (born October 13, 1935) is a gospel singer, songwriter, and matriarch of the famous singing DeBarge family group. She is also an author having memorized the biography, "Other Side of the Pain", which talked about her struggles in her marriage to her children's father and also documented her children's rise to fame and their struggles under the glare of the spotlight.

Biography

Early years

Born Etterlene Abney on October 13, 1935 in Royal Oak, Michigan, she has a twin sister and is of African-American and Native American ancestry. When she was a kid, her family moved to the Brewster-Douglass housing projects, located in the east side of Detroit. In 1951, she met a former Army veteran named Robert DeBarge, a man of French-Canadian and English descent from Cicero, Illinois. The couple hit it off and married in 1953 moving to a suburb in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they had ten children. However, Etterlene later recalled that their marriage was troubled with domestic abuse on her and physical and sexual abuse committed against her children, as she documented in the book, though Robert DeBarge denies the abuse allegations. Divorcing in 1974, Etterlene later married a second time to George Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican, leading to the rumor that the DeBarge family was half-Hispanic.

Children

*Robert and Etterlene DeBarge had ten children during their 21-year marriage:
#Daughter Etterlene DeBarge, better known as Bunny, was born on March 15, 1955.
#Son Robert DeBarge, Jr., was born on March 5, 1956 and died on August 16, 1995 of AIDS complications.
#Son Thomas DeBarge was born in 1957.
#Son William DeBarge, better known as Randy, was born on August 6, 1958.
#Son Mark DeBarge, better known as Marty, was born on June 19, 1959.
#Son Eldra Patrick DeBarge, better known as El, was born on June 4, 1961.
#Son James DeBarge was born on August 22, 1963.
#Son Jonathan Arthur DeBarge, better known as Chico, was born on June 23, 1966.
#Fraternal twin sister Carol "Peaches" DeBarge, was born in 1969.
#Fraternal twin brother Darryl "Young" DeBarge, was born in 1969.

Grandchildren

She has dozens of grandchildren, several of which are involved in the entertainment industry. They include the following:

* Adris DeBarge, daughter of El DeBarge. She is an executive assistant for producer Tracey Edmonds. [cite news
url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20076254/
title= Scary Spice seeks child support from Murphy
date=2007-08-01
work=Associated Press (accessed on MSNBC.com)
location= United States
accessdate-2008-07-18]
* Andrew DeBarge, son of Tommy DeBarge, was born on September 28, 1989 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His debut album, "Your Place," was released in 2008. [cite web
url=http://andrewdebargemusic.com/
title= Official Andrew DeBarge website
location= United States
accessdate-2008-07-18]
* Cheyanne DeBarge, daughter of Chico DeBarge, is an aspiring actress. [cite web
url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2903670/
title= Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
location= United States
accessdate-2008-07-18]
* Kristinia Jamie DeBarge, daughter of James DeBarge, was born on March 8, 1990 in California.cite web
url=http://www.ancestry.com
title= California Birth Index, 1905-1995 [database on-line]
publisher= The Generations Network
location= United States
accessdate=2008-07-18] She appeared on 2003's "American Idol" spin-off "American Juniors". [cite web
url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1929906/
title= Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
location= United States
accessdate-2008-07-18]

witch and DeBarge

In 1975, Bobby and Greg Williams left Grand Rapids to start the funk-soul band, Switch (Tommy later joined the band), who first went by the moniker, First Class. Eventually signing with Motown Records in 1978, the group's debut album, yielding the hits "There'll Never Be", sold over one million copies starting the DeBarge musical dynasty. In 1979, Bunny, Marty, Randy and El signed with Motown as the DeBarges and released their debut album two years later under the guidance of Bobby and Tommy, who left Switch that year to begin mentoring their siblings. A year later, in 1982, the group, now known as DeBarge, found fame with the singles, "I Like It" and "All This Love". They would go on to have several more hit singles such as "Time Will Reveal", "Love Me In a Special Way" and "Rhythm of the Night", reaching R&B superstardom by the mid-1980s. Younger brother Chico became a solo success first with his 1986 dance-pop single, "Talk to Me", and then after a stint in prison, with more soulful singles such as "Iggin' Me" and "No Guarantees". El DeBarge also found solo fame in the 1980s with singles such as "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always" and collaborating on hits by Quincy Jones, Tone Loc and Fourplay. Etterlene's youngest son Darryl released his first solo album last year continuing on the DeBarge name as various members continue solo careers. DeBarge's 1983 album track, "Queen of My Heart", from their "In A Special Way" album, was dedicated to Adris, Eldra's oldest daughter.

Career

In 1991, Etterlene, a deeply religious woman, released her first album with several members of her family in the gospel album, "Back on Track", under the DeBarge Family moniker. In 2005, she released the gospel album, "A City Called Heaven" on her own record label. In 2008, she added biographer to her list of hats releasing the autobiography, "Other Side of the Pain". She is known affectionately by her grandchildren as "Mama D", a name she has constantly used. She currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

References

External links

* [http://www.mamadebarge.com Etterlene DeBarge's official website]
* [http://www.othersideofthepain.com A website that has information on the book "Other Side of the Pain"]