Who Is Teri DeBarge Bobby DeBarge’s Wife and Where Is She Now?

Teri DeBarge (birth name: Teri Lee Gayle, born 1970) is a 54-year-old American producer known for her role as the executive producer of The Bobby DeBarge Story (2019). She attained celebrity status as the widowed wife of Bobby DeBarge, the late Motown R&B singer.

Born Robert Louis DeBarge II on March 5, 1956, Bobby DeBarge was the lead singer of the Motown R&B group known as Switch. He became popular for his falsetto vocals and achieved a semblance of musical greatness before his death from HIV/AIDS-related complications on August 16, 1995. This article focuses on DeBarge’s widow, Teri, and what she has been up to since his death decades ago.

Teri DeBarge Was Born In 1970

Before she became Teri DeBarge, the celebrity widow was born Teri Lee Gayle in 1970. Teri primarily became famous because of her marital relationship with the late R&B singer Bobby DeBarge, and she has stayed out of the limelight since his death several years ago. The effect is that little is known about her early life and family history.

To begin with, her exact date and month of birth are unknown and other than the well-established fact that she was born in the United States, the precise city of her birth in the country is unknown. Her birth status allows her to identify as an American citizen, while her ethnic identity is a little less straightforward in comparison.

As previously stated, Teri DeBarge has not revealed too much of her family’s history, leading to the inevitable conclusion that the pieces of information regarding the identity of her parents and what they did for a living are not available in any public domain. Also, without a clear picture of what her birth family life was like, there is no way to determine whether Teri had other siblings or if she was an only child.

Teri DeBarge’s formal educational background is another aspect of her early years that the general public is unaware of. There is no record of the institutions where she received her basic formal education. However, several reliable sources have disclosed that Teri DeBarge dropped out of school after marrying Bobby DeBarge.

There is a chance that she might have improved on her academic qualifications after her husband’s death, but there is no way to verify that for sure at the moment.

She Became Bobby DeBarge’s Wife In 1990

Teri DeBarge and Robert Louis ‘Bobby’ DeBarge exchanged marital vows on December 10, 1990. The wedding ceremony occurred five years after Teri and Bobby had met and began dating in 1985. She was reportedly 15 years old when she met Bobby for the first time. Additionally, the predominant account of how they met remains that Teri had met her late husband through his ex-wife, Monique DeBarge.

Coincidentally, Monique was also Teri’s cousin, and she was the one that allegedly introduced Teri to Bobby in 1985. Bobby instantly took a liking to a then 15-year-old Teri and soon put the moves on her. His efforts at the beginning of a relationship with a teenage Teri took some time but were eventually rewarded in the end.

The finer details of the wedding event, such as the venue and location of the wedding, guests, and the couple’s outfits, are not publicly known. Teri DeBarge and Bobby DeBarge were married for less than five years before his death from HIV/AIDS complications in August 1995.

Teri DeBarge’s Husband Died from HIV, But She Didn’t Contract the Disease

Teri DeBarge’s late husband died from HIV/AIDS complications on August 16, 1995, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. He was 39 years old. More often than not, when a husband or a wife contracts this deadly virus, they tend to infect their partner with it. Fortunately for Teri, this was not the case for her, as she did not contract the virus from her late husband.

A lot of theories were put forward when the question of how Teri’s late husband, Bobby, became infected with the disease that eventually led to his premature death. One of those theories revolved around the fact that he was bisexual and that he got the virus from his sexual relations with men. However, nothing was ever proven in this regard.

The predominant theory, and the most likely to be true theory, is centered around his drug addiction and habits. For all his musical genius, the late Bobby DeBarge never seemed to figure out his personal life. Many sources close to him revealed that he picked up the nasty drug habit from his abusive father. He started with heroin and graduated to harder drugs like cocaine.

He fought the addiction for years, only to relapse after a few steps in the right direction. To administer the heroin dosage, Bobby required a syringe, and the prevailing opinion is that one of those syringes might have been infected with the virus, and he used it without knowing the consequences it would lead to.

The Celebrity Widow Had Two Sons With Bobby DeBarge

Despite the relatively short duration of their marriage, Teri managed to have two sons for Bobby before his untimely death. The exact dates of the birth of either son are unknown at the moment, but it has to be anytime between 1991 and 1995. Teri’s first son was named Christian DeBarge, while the younger son was named Robert Louis ‘Bobby’ DeBarge III after his father.

Christian DeBarge is an anime illustrator and is happily married to an as-yet unidentified Asian woman with whom he has one daughter. Beyond taking up his father’s name, Teri’s youngest son has also taken on his musical legacy. As a matter of fact, Bobby III also has a remarkable falsetto, a singing ability that made his father quite famous.

Where Is Teri DeBarge Now?

After her husband’s death, Teri DeBarge, more or less, fell off the grid, presumably to rebuild her life and focus on raising her two sons. After successfully achieving that, she returned briefly to star as herself in Unsung (2008), a documentary series that focused on the life of many of the forgotten but talented ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s R&B, Soul, and Gospel singers.

That feature piece included and briefly explored the life of Teri’s late husband, Bobby. Being part of that series gave Teri an idea for an entire production about her late husband as she probably reasoned who better to tell Bobby DeBarge’s story than a woman who was married to him for some time.

It took nine years from 2008, but in 2019, her idea became a reality when The Bobby DeBarge Story was released. Teri made her debut as an executive producer in the production that took a more in-depth look into the life of the iconic Bobby DeBarge, including his musical genius, struggles with drug addiction, HIV, and eventually his death.

That was Teri’s first and currently only foray into production. She has a net worth estimated to be around $5 million, part of which is the income she made from telling her husband’s story on tape.