(February 17, 2024) She was the rock that held together one of the great musical families of our time, even through seemingly endless tragedies. Today we say goodbye to Etterlene DeBarge, gospel singer and matriarch of the legendary DeBarge musical family. She was 88. Daughter Bunny DeBarge simply posted on Facebook “Momma has gone to see her king.”
Etterlene was born in Royal Oak, Michigan as one of twelve children. Her family moved to the notorious Brewster-Douglass housing projects in Detroit before she met Robert DeBarge at age 17 and married him a year later, having ten children – Bunny, Tommy, Bobby, Randy, Marty, Eldra, James, Chico, Peaches and Young - who would go on to become the anchor members of two legendary Motown R&B groups, Switch and DeBarge.
(February 17, 2024) She was the rock that held together one of the great musical families of our time, even through seemingly endless tragedies. Today we say goodbye to Etterlene DeBarge, gospel singer and matriarch of the legendary DeBarge musical family. She was 88. Daughter Bunny DeBarge simply posted on Facebook “Momma has gone to see her king.”
Etterlene was born in Royal Oak, Michigan as one of twelve children. Her family moved to the notorious Brewster-Douglass housing projects in Detroit before she met Robert DeBarge at age 17 and married him a year later, having ten children – Bunny, Tommy, Bobby, Randy, Marty, Eldra, James, Chico, Peaches and Young - who would go on to become the anchor members of two legendary Motown R&B groups, Switch and DeBarge.
The family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in the early 70s, but the volatile, often violent Robert DeBarge proved to be a less-than-ideal husband and father, and Etterlene divorced him in 1974. Their children have often praised her strength and character during this extremely difficult time, as she worked and tried to raise her 10 children.
Mrs. DeBarge led her family through incredible highs and lows, with the ascent of both Switch, and to an even greater extent, DeBarge, as among the most popular groups of the 70s and early 80s. But she also saw drug addictions and imprisonments of her talented, but sometimes troubled children, and the too-early deaths of sons Bobby and Tommy.
Through it all, Etterlene DeBarge remained steadfast as a strong woman of faith. And that faith was displayed in song when she recorded the Gospel albums Back On Track in 1991, and A City Called Heaven, more than a decade later. A mother of great faith who bore such trials with dignity, we can’t help but believe that she is now receiving a heavenly reward for her extraordinary life.
By Chris Rizik