For En Vogue’s Dawn Robinson, the road has become her home.
In a candid video blog posted Tuesday, the Grammy-nominated R&B singer revealed to fans that she’s been living in her car for the past three years.
“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 clip. “I’m learning about who I am. I’m learning myself as a person, as a woman.”
While Robinson did not detail the circumstances that led to her living in her car long-term, the singer said she first took refuge in her vehicle in 2020 after living with her parents in Las Vegas. Robinson said her relationship with her mother, which allegedly became turbulent, led her to taking shelter in her vehicle.
After about a month of living in her car, Robinson said she was persuaded by her former co-manager to move to Los Angeles, where he rented a hotel room for her for a period of 8 months. Despite the living arrangement, Robinson said she moved back into her car in March 2022 after the unnamed manager allegedly refused to help her find an apartment.
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“I felt like he was playing games,” Robinson said. “Sometimes I think people want to trap you and keep you in a situation where you’re vulnerable and depending on them, and I wasn’t the one.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Robinson’s representative for comment.
Robinson co-founded En Vogue alongside vocalists Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron and Maxine Jones in 1989. The R&B-soul group, known for hits such as “Hold On,” “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” and “Giving Him Something He Can Feel,” has scored six top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and reportedly sold 20 million records worldwide.
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Dawn Robinson felt ‘free’ after moving into car
In her Tuesday video, Robinson shared with fans that while she was initially anxious about living in her car, she learned to embrace her “off-grid” lifestyle.
“I felt free. … I felt like I was on a camping trip,” Robinson said. “It was the right thing to do. I didn’t regret it.”
Robinson said she’s been documenting her experience on film and wants to use the footage she’s collected to make a documentary about her journey.
“If you would have said to me while I was in 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?,'” Robinson said. “We say that we can’t do certain things before we even know we’re capable.”
And despite the difficulties of “car life,” the former En Vogue singer maintained that she wouldn’t “trade my experiences and what I’ve gone through for the world.”
“It is not something that I would have chosen, but I’m glad that I put myself out here. … I have no shame,” Robinson said. “When I succeed again — because I will — when I’m on top again … getting to that point is only up to me. So, from my car into that life is going to be amazing.”
