El DeBarge to ring in 2026 at Blue Note L.A.

The R&B legend talks about his New Year's Eve show and why he never plans to retire.

- BY STEVE BALTIN

When the Hollywood location of the Blue Note first opened, it was during difficult times.

Like almost all of L.A., the venue was affected by the January wildfires, and a March opening was pushed back to August.

However, since the SoCal location of the beloved jazz club franchise opened its doors, it has kicked off with a memorable run of sold-out shows and iconic moments, like Stevie Wonder joining Robert Glasper on stage Dec. 21. So, given all that has transpired in this unique opening year of 2025, the team at Blue Note knew their first New Year's Eve show had to be noteworthy.

On Wednesday, L.A. resident and R&B legend El DeBarge will perform at the club to ring in 2026.

The Times recently spoke with DeBarge about his relationship with jazz, why he'll never retire and why he loves playing NYE shows.

We're talking about your New Year's show at Blue Note. Will it be with the full band?

The New Year show at the Blue Note in Los Angeles will Glasper at the New York location and I'm very honored to do the Blue Note again.

It's a very big deal because this is the club's first New Year's Eve in L.A. How do you approach it and is it special for you to be first?

It's very special for me to be the first person to play Blue Note NYE because it's an honor. Robert Glasper called me up and said, "Hey, El, I was very instrumental in helping launch the Blue Note in Los Angeles." I said, "Great," because he told me they were getting one out there. Next thing I know I'm getting a call from my manager saying, "Hey, they would love for you to do New Year's Eve at the Blue Note." I was like, "What? That's great to me." I've heard nothing but great things about it. I love the acoustics there [in New York].

Have you had memorable New Year's shows over the years?