Dawn Robinson says her and Terry Ellis' solo endeavors caused issues within En Vogue that nearly destroyed the group.
On Tuesday, March 25, the founding member of the beloved R&B group appeared on Way Up With Angela Yee. Throughout the lengthy interview, Robinson touched on multiple topics including her homelessness and the financial issues she experienced during/after her time in the group. Despite selling millions of records and selling out tours, Robinson said the ladies of En Vogue were still "broke as f**k." After Terry Ellis secured a solo deal with the label, Robinson said she was also approached about making a solo album, which caused some tension in the group.
"Terry did an album, she recorded it. That took a long time," she explained. "Then she's practicing and rehearsing. She's doing videos — that took time. Then she did a promo tour and now she's on a major tour — that took all that time. I gotta pay my mortgage. So when the label came to me to do a solo album, I said 'yes' and then Maxine and Cindy called me and said 'Dawn, you did a solo deal?' and I said 'Yeah I did' and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you guys. I should've divulged that to you, however, Terry didn't divulge to us that she was in the studio recording her album. She just did it. And when we called her, she was like 'Well, you guys, I don't really agree with what you want to do.'"
Robinson left the group in 1997 right before En Vogue released their third LP EV3. She eventually released her debut solo album Dawn in 2002. She reunited with Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones and Cindy Herron in 2005 and toured with them before she ultimately decided to leave again in 2011. The entire group, including fifth member Rhona Bennett reunited to honor music industry executive Sylvia Rhone at the City of Hope Gala 2019.
Listen to the entire interview below.