El DeBarge

Renowned for his distinctive falsetto, El DeBarge fronted the 1980s R&B family act DeBarge from its earliest days, delivering lead vocals on the group’s standout singles “All This Love,” “Love Me in a Special Way,” “Who’s Holding Donna Now,” and “Rhythm of the Night.” Once he stepped away from the band in 1985, he stepped forward as a solo artist the next year with a self-titled Motown debut whose centerpiece, the number-three single “Who’s Johnny?,” found a home in the film Short Circuit. A second Motown project, the 1989 album Gemini, came next; afterward he moved to Warner for In the Storm in 1992 and Heart, Mind & Soul in 1994. Those later releases failed to register commercially. Drug addiction kept him out of music for more than a decade. Following a prison term for a probation violation, he resurfaced in 2010 with the album Second Chance.