1. Genres: Pop, R&B, soul, neo soul, hip hop soul
Instruments: Keyboard, Piano, Vocals
Years Active: 1986-Present
Labels: Motown,
Associated Acts: El DeBarge, Joe
!Jonathan Arthur "Chico" DeBarge (born June 23, 1966, Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B singer and a
younger brother of the members of the Motown family act DeBarge. Unlike the rest of his DeBarge siblings,
Chico is the only male DeBarge that does not sing in the falsetto range that is well known in his family; he sings
tenor.
!He began a musical career of his own with Motown in the mid-1980s. His debut self-titled album featured the hit
single "Talk To Me." 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.[citation needed] After his release in the
mid-1990s, DeBarge returned to Motown to continue his musical career under the auspices of Kedar
Massenberg and his neo-soul pioneering label imprint Kedar Entertainment.
!He later moved to the independent record label, Koch Records, where he released 2003's Free. DeBarge also
contributed a song to the Beauty Shop movie soundtrack courtesy of Alove Entertainment. His most recent
album Addiction was released July 14, 2009 under Kedar Entertainment Group.
!He has five children (Cheyanne DeBarge, Chicoco DeBarge, Manny DeBarge, Abrielle DeBarge, Dontae
DeBarge) and is in the process of divorcing Andrea Bordenave, who filed for divorce from him in mid-2009. He is
also the ex-beau of singer/actress Nona Gaye.
In the fall of 2003, Chico DeBarge was stabbed by the South Philadelphia Italian mafioso named John "Johnny
Gongs" Casasanto outside a Philadelphia nightclub after the two engaged in an argument, in which Casasanto
called DeBarge a "titsune", the Italian equivalent to the word "coon."
Chico DeBarge