The same year El split from the group to pursue his solo ambitions, he released his self-titled first project. He found success with hit songs “Who Is Johnny?” and “Love Always.” But bad luck was around the corner. Drug-use heavily affected the family, and many of them struggled with habits. And things for El would get worse before they got better.

His oldest brother Bobby DeBarge, whom he was very close with, tragically died in 1995.

El himself dealt with drug abuse for two decades, and it prevented him from having a relationship with his children.

Before drugs, El DeBarge was dealing with the downsides of superstardom. Along with a bankruptcy, at the height of his career, he was arrested and forced to complete community service for a domestic violence incident with a Michigan woman, according to Jet magazine. He was arrested again in 1996 for failure to pay child support. But El would have several more stints in prison before he could get sober. As reported by People, he got arrested again for domestic violence in 2007.

After years of legal and drug struggles, in 2010, he released his fourth album Second Chance. The comeback project earned him his first solo Grammy nomination for Best R&B album.