Bobby DeBarge Death
Bobby passed away on August 16, 1995 at the age of 39 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. Bobby's cause of death was aids from intravenous drug use.
When did Bobby DeBarge die?
August 16, 1995How did Bobby DeBarge die? What was the cause of death?
Aids from intravenous drug useHow old was Bobby DeBarge when died?
39Where did Bobby DeBarge die? What was the location of death?
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Bobby DeBarge Birthday and Date of Death
Bobby DeBarge was born on March 5, 1956 and died on August 16, 1995. Bobby was 39 years old at the time of death.
Birthday: March 5, 1956
Date of Death: August 16, 1995
Age at Death: 39
Bobby DeBarge - Biography
Robert Louis "Bobby" DeBarge, Jr. (March 5, 1956 – August 16, 1995) was an American musician and the lead singer of the popular 1970s Motown R&B group Switch and was noted for his impressive falsetto vocals. Later on, he served as both mentor and a co-producer of his siblings' band, DeBarge, later joining them to fill in for departing members El and Bunny. A five-year conviction on drug trafficking charges derailed his career for several years.
For several years, he pursued La Toya Jackson of the Jackson family. He mentioned Jackson's song "Night Time Lover" in the Switch ballad "You & I", a song he wrote in response to Jackson's single. By 1984, DeBarge had split from Jackson and later married Teri, with whom he would have two children, Christian and Bobby III. DeBarge's heroin addiction started in the early 1970s and, later, DeBarge developed addictions to cocaine and crack.
In 1988, he was sentenced to five years in a Wisconsin prison for drug trafficking charges. Following his release in 1993, he vowed to stay clean, signing a management agreement with Bernd Lichters (for whom DeBarge, with Hot Ice, recorded the Pall Mall Groove album years earlier, as well as signing a management agreement as partnership with Ed Wright in 1985), who guided him during 1994 to record songs he wrote in prison. The resulting album, released in August 1995 on A&E Records just before his death, was entitled It's Not Over. Throughout that year, he was lying low in Gregory Williams' California home, before he returned to Michigan for his final days.
Before being sent to prison, DeBarge confided to his family that he had contracted HIV. When he became gravely ill, his family sent him to a hospice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He died of AIDS complications there on August 16, 1995 at age 39. He is buried in Garfield Park Cemetery in Grand Rapids.
