[citation needed] Barnes became a regular in the Derby team that won promotion to the Premier League, playing in 46 matches (with 34 of those starts) putting him behind only the club's player of the year Steve Howard in terms of appearances.

[15] Although he picked up an injury towards the end of the season, Barnes was still able to make an impact in Derby's successful Championship play-off campaign in his two substitute appearances.

[citation needed] It was his corner from which Leon Best scored an own goal in the second leg of the semi-final clash with Southampton and he also came off the bench to set up Stephen Pearson's winner in the 1–0 2007 Championship play-off final victory over West Brom.

[citation needed] After this, it was found out that Barnes was playing with a broken foot and he missed all of the summer injured as Derby prepared for life back in the top flight.

[citation needed] He made his first Premier League appearance on 22 September 2007 as a substitute against Arsenal in the 75th minute and scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle United.

[citation needed] After just three league appearances, on 31 January 2009, Barnes signed for Fulham on loan for the rest of the 2008–09 season with a view to a possible permanent transfer in the summer, with Derby receiving a substantial loan fee, and agreeing a fee of £2 million, raising to £4 million on appearances if he signed permanently.

[citation needed] On 24 May, Roy Hodgson confirmed that Fulham would not be signing Barnes on a permanent basis and that he would return to Derby at the end of the season.

[37] Barnes was traded to Vancouver Whitecaps FC on 30 July 2016 in exchange for general allocation money and the MLS rights to Keyner Brown.

[39] He made his first appearance for Orlando against New York City FC on 5 March 2017, coming on as a substitute in the 11th minute after Kaká suffered a hamstring injury.

[48] Barnes was called up to Jamaica's squad for friendly matches against Venezuela and Cuba,[49] scoring on his senior international debut against the former on 28 May 2015, the equaliser in a 2–1 win in Montego Bay.

[citation needed] At the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Barnes scored his second international goal to defeat Haiti 1–0 at the quarter-final stage.

[52] He then went on to score the decisive goal in the 2–1 semi-final defeat of hosts the United States at the Georgia Dome, as Jamaica qualified for their first ever Gold Cup final,[53] which they eventually lost to Mexico.

[citation needed] On 15 February 2023, it was announced Barnes had been appointed assistant head coach to Seb Hines at National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride.