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Etterlene DeBarge — gospel singer and matriarch of the legendary DeBarge family — has died … TMZ has confirmed.
The mother-of-ten passed away peacefully in her sleep at Berkley Post-Acute in Woodland Hills Friday morning — this according to her daughter Etterlene “Bunny” DeBarge. A cause of death has not yet been announced, but sources tell us EDB was ill and battling dementia.
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Bunny broke the news online — posting a short message to social media, simply announcing her mother’s death to fans of the group … noting she was in a better place now.
Etterlene met Robert DeBarge — her future husband — back in 1952 and married him the following year. They built a huge family, complete with 10 different children … seven of whom went on to play in the Motown super group DeBarge.
The Grammy-nominated group was active from 1979 to 1989 before the lure of solo contracts for Bunny and El DeBarge helped lead to the group splitting up. There were other factors that ultimately ended the family band.
Etterlene and Robert divorced in 1974, and Etterlene chronicled their marriage and her children’s rise to fame in the book “Other Side of the Pain.” She married George Rodriguez in 1980 — a pairing that lasted the rest of her life.
Etterlene is survived by George, eight of her children, and numerous grandchildren. One of her sons, Robert DeBarge Jr., passed away in 1995 while Tommy DeBarge passed away in 2021. Obviously, her legacy and impact in music lives on through her children.
TMZ Studios
Etterlene was 88.
RIP