Former En Vogue Singer Dawn Robinson Reveals She Has Been Living In Her Car For The Past Three Years

At one point, Dawn Robinson was arguably the most famous member of En Vogue, the hugely successful ’90s R&B group. Robinson first left En Vogue in 1997, and her career has taken some turns since then. Robinson released one acclaimed, successful album with Lucy Pearl, the neo-soul supergroup with Tony! Toni! Toné!’s Raphael Saadiq and A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad. She has rejoined and left En Vogue multiple times over the years. Yesterday, Robinson posted a YouTube video in which she made a shocking announcement: “You guys, for the past three years, I have been living in my car.”

In her 18-minute YouTube video, Dawn Robinson tells the story about why she’s living in her car. She says that she was living with her parents in Las Vegas but that she had to move out because of conflicts with her mother. A manager invited her out to live with him in Los Angeles, but he put her in a hotel when it turned out that he didn’t have room in his house. That arrangement wasn’t sustainable, so Robinson figured out what she wanted to do with the next chapter of her life:

I told my assistant one day, “I have been researching car life.” There’s a whole community of people that live in their cars, and a whole community of people that live in their RVs, and a whole community of people that live in vans, van life, car life, RV life, and I loved what I was seeing. I just thought, “Wow, these people. I could do that, I could do this, I think.” And I ended up in my car. And it’s been, like I said, three years.

Robinson says that the experience was “scary” at first but that she came to think of it like a camping trip, or an adventure. She notes that “a lot of celebrities,” including Marvin Gaye, have lived in their cars. She insists that fans should not feel sorry for her:

This is not like, “Oh, my God! Poor Dawn! She’s living in her car, and it’s terrible! Oh, woe is me!” It’s not that. It’s not. Like I said, I’m learning about who I am. I’m learning myself as a person, as a woman. If you would have said to me while I was En Vogue, “You’re going to be living in your car one day,” I’d be like, “Huh? No, I’m always going to have an apartment. I can’t live in my car. How can I do that?” We say that we can’t do certain things before we even know that we’re capable…

Would I have an apartment if I had a choice? I would, I’m not gonna lie. But am I glad that I did this? Absolutely. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished out here. Just so you guys know, I have a gym membership, and I shower there. I’m a Funky Diva, but I’m not funky.

Robinson intends to continue “documenting this whole adventure” and repeatedly says that this is no publicity stunt. She also talks about how her dog died in her car and makes passing reference to “the plandemic.” Here’s her video:

Robinson has not been part of En Vogue since 2019. She was also in the cast of the TV One reality show R&B Divas: Los Angeles in 2013, and she spent some time touring with Funky Divas, a duo with fellow ex-En Vogue member Maxine Jones. Right now, Maxine Jones is back in En Vogue. Last month, the group’s current lineup performed as part of NBA All-Star Weekend, and they have a number of tour dates coming up. TMZ also reports that after seeing the video Robinson’s ex-husband Andre Allen, a sales executive for Holiday Inn Club Vacations, said he will offer her a job.