El Debarge. Source: Erika Goldring / Getty
Just days into the new year, El DeBarge was arrested in Burbank, California. According to TMZ, the “I Like It” singer was approached by police at a gas station Sunday morning around 3:40 a.m. after they noticed expired tags on his car.
They then noticed “an expandable metal baton [was] in plain sight,” and since that’s an illegal weapon, they searched his car. Police then found narcotics believed to be heroin as well as pepper spray. DeBarge also didn’t have a valid license. He was taken into custody and charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a leaded cane or baton, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The 61-year-old singer is due back in court in March.
El DeBarge Kicked His Drug Addiction While Incarcerated
In 2020, DeBarge shared that when he finished his 13-month prison sentence in 2009, he came home a clean and sober man. Before he was incarcerated, he was addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for 20 years.
“God saw fit to sit me down,” he told Black Doctor. “It was an answer to my prayers. I didn’t want to go to prison, and I don’t recommend it, but while I was there, I got my willpower back. And it put me back in touch with myself and my faith in God.”
His sister, Etterlene “Bunny” DeBarge, said the ups and downs of the music industry fueled his addiction.
“Drugs happened,” she told the Michigan Chronicle.
“When El got into drugs it just paralyzed him. He just couldn’t deal with all the people in the music industry. He couldn’t deal with their fakeness and people ripping him off. Motown had taken all of his publishing and they’re still making money from those songs.”
Drug addiction plagued the DeBarge brothers and sisters throughout their careers during the 1980s. Bobby DeBarge struggled with heroin addiction and died of AIDS in 1995. Chico DeBarge also struggled with substance abuse and was arrested in 2007 and 2019 for drug possession. In 2021, he was arrested for possession of methamphetamines and heroin, TMZ reported.
Etterlene “Bunny” DeBarge and James DeBarge also battled drug addiction.
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