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New York Times
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Dawn Robinson, En Vogue Alum, Says She's Been Living in Her Car for 3 Years
Dawn Robinson, a founding member of the '90s R&B group En Vogue, said this week that she had been living in her car for roughly three years after several living arrangements fell through. In a nearly 20-minute video that was posted to her official YouTube channel on Tuesday, Robinson said that she did not want anyone's pity and that she was comfortable with the decision she had made. Although she said she would rather have her own apartment, she put somewhat of a positive spin on her circumstances. 'I'm glad that I made this choice because I needed to go through this fire,' Robinson said in the video, adding that she was in the middle of a spiritual journey involving a period of isolation from family and friends. 'I'm in the trenches of this right now and I'm like, 'I wouldn't trade my experiences and what I've gone through for the world.'' A representative for En Vogue, which is still active without Robinson, declined to comment beyond saying that the group had not been in contact with her in more than five years. Robinson could not immediately be reached for comment and did not say in her video where her vehicle is. En Vogue was founded in the late 1980s with Robinson, Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron and Maxine Jones and climbed the charts in the 1990s with songs like 'Hold On,' 'Free Your Mind' and 'Giving Him Something He Can Feel.' A New York Times review of one of their concerts in 1992 praised the members' vocal skills and said, 'There's not a weak voice in the group.' Robinson left the group in 1997 but made reunion appearances in 2005 and 2009, according to Billboard. Its current members — Ellis, Herron, Jones and Rhona Bennett — performed at the N.B.A. All-Star Game in February. Robinson, who was also in the music group Lucy Pearl with the singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq, said friends had warned her not to share the details of her living circumstances. 'My aim is to inspire,' she said. 'And to let people know that you're capable of anything, no matter what the odds are against you.' The singer recounted the many living arrangements that had fallen through over the years, including stays with her parents in Las Vegas and her then manager in Los Angeles. She also lived in a hotel for eight months. In March 2022, she said, she decided to take a different approach and try living in her car after researching 'van life,' a trend that surged during the coronavirus pandemic in which people permanently live in a vehicle. 'I loved what I was seeing,' Robinson said. 'I just thought, 'I could do that, I can do this.'' Robinson said that over the years she had developed a careful routine that included caring for her car, covering her windows when necessary and not talking to certain people. She also has a membership at a gym where she showers. 'I'm a funky diva, but I'm not funky,' she said. Toward the end of the video, Robinson said her career would bounce back and addressed concerns that she might be sharing the information for publicity. 'There are many things that people have done for publicity stunts,' she said. 'Saying that I'm living in my car and actually not living in my car would be a stupid publicity stunt. But this is not publicity. I have all the footage from Vegas to L.A. to prove that.'
The Guardian
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- The Guardian
En Vogue singer reveals she's been living in her car for years
Dawn Robinson, a founding member of the widely popular R&B girl group En Vogue, has revealed she has been living out of her car for years. In a video she uploaded to social media, the singer said she moved into her vehicle out of necessity during the pandemic. Robinson added that she has since become devoted to the lifestyle. 'This is not like, 'Oh my God, poor Dawn. She's living in her car. It's terrible. Oh, woe is me,'' Robinson said in the nearly 20-minute video. 'I'm learning about who I am. I'm learning myself as a person, as a woman.' Though Robinson did not go into detail, she explained that she began taking refuge in her car in 2020 after living with her parents in Las Vegas and that her relationship with her mother became troubled, causing her to move into her car. She said she slept in her car for about a month before staying with a manager in LA, but he ultimately didn't have room for her, so she wound up in a hotel he paid for. She worried whether he could continue to pay the hotel bill. 'I told my assistant one day, 'I have been researching car life,' she said. 'I loved what I was seeing.' Despite the first night in the vehicle being 'scary' she said she soon learned how to make herself feel safe. She described the first time she watched a sunset from her vehicle as 'beautiful.' 'I was so free, I felt like I was on a camping trip,' she said. 'It was the right thing to do, I didn't regret it.' According to data from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, over 40% of the unsheltered homeless population in LA county rely on vehicles (defined as cars, vans and RVs) for shelter. According to the University of Los Angeles Institute of Transportation Studies, there is a lack of research on this large and growing population. Robinson rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of En Vogue with Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron and Maxine Jones. The band would go on to become one of the most successful girl groups of all time, selling upwards of 20m records and nabbing seven Grammy nominations, with hits including Free Your Mind, Don't Let Go (Love), Giving Him Something He Can Feel and Hold On. Billboard named them the second most successful female group of the 1990s.
