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About El DeBarge Legends make their mark over and over throughout their lifetime. Legendary R&B crooner El DeBarge has been sharing his gift of songwriting, producing, performing and his beautiful and distinctive falsetto with the world for decades. El’s forty plus year career includes multiple Grammy nominations, worldwide tours, and chart-topping hits, including “All This Love,” “I Like it,” “Stay with Me,” and “Rhythm of the Night,” just to name a few. Artists from Beyonce to Ashanti to Tupac and the Notorious B. I. G. have sampled his songs. El is considered one of the most important and talented artists of his generation. 2023 finds El back in the studio to record his first new solo album in over a decade. Working with renowned producer Cory Rooney and signed to Rooney’s record label TLR Music Group, El’s new album highlights his gift of songwriting and performing, crafting new songs for this decade while staying true to his art. El grew up in Detroit and Grand Rapids Michigan with 10 siblings. A musical prodigy and the son of a gospel singer, El entertained and inspired his community as a member of the church choir. El rose to fame in the early ‘80s as part of his family group DeBarge, who were signed to Motown Records by Berry Gordy. DeBarge songs dominated both the R&B and pop charts for much of the 1980’s In 1986, El embarked on a solo career, continuing to dominate the charts and collaborating with other talented performers and legendary producers including Quincy Jones, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Babyface. The title track from his first solo album “Who’s Johnny” rose to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #1 on the Hot R&B chart and was featured in the movie “Short Circuit”. In 2010, El released his album “Second Chance: which was nominated for multiple Grammy awards. More recently, El has been collaborating with many well-known artists and friends, including PJ Morton and R&B superstars the Isley Brothers. About Keith Washington Prior to his success as a recording act, Washington earned recognition as a songwriter, co-writing Freddie Jackson’s 1988 number one R&B hit “Hey Lover”. Within three years, Washington had scored a contract as a solo artist, releasing his debut album, Make Time for Love, in 1991. In addition to “Kissing You”, the album featured a number of successful follow-up R&B singles. He also recorded a duet with Kylie Minogue, their co-composition “If You Were with Me Now”, in 1991 (on PWL Records) , which reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and number 23 in Minogue’s native Australia. Washington’s follow-up album, You Make It Easy appeared in 1993, though its success paled in comparison to the debut. It would be another five years before Washington released his third album, KW, which featured the minor single, “Bring It On”. Washington branched out in a few acting roles, starring as himself on the television series Martin in an episode called “A Woman with a Past” which featured him singing a duet with Tisha Campbell-Martin titled “The Closer I Get to You”, a classic ballad performed and made famous in 1978 by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway. Additionally, Keith had a brief role in the TV soap opera General Hospital as Keith Jasper. Appearing alongside lead actress Janet Jackson, he also had a brief role in John Singleton’s Poetic Justice, as a hairdresser named Dexter. Washington’s first marriage was to Marsha Jenkins and ended in divorce and resulted in her writing The Other Side of Through, a book loosely based on Jenkins’ marriage to Washington and her experiences with the singer’s marital infidelities. [5] In June 2009, Washington married his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie Grimes, who is general sales manager for WGPR-FM 107. 5 in Detroit. He also revealed his plans to release a new album. [6] Washington has since branched out into radio himself, as he now hosts the nighttime “Slow Jams” show “Kisses After Dark” on Detroit radio station WDMK-FM 105. 9 (Kiss-FM) .
