The fall-out from Ev Vogue‘s not-so-subtle split shows no signs of subsiding.
Since dividing into two “versions” earlier this year, both camps have kept much of the discourse surrounding the split confined to Twitter and Facebook. Until now.
This week members Dawn Robinson and Maxine Jones sat down with Access Hollywood this week for a candid chat. The pair, who claim they too will press on under the En Vogue alias, dished the deets surrounding their departure and the dissension that has seen the group implode.
Interview after the jump…
Sigh. Can’t they all just get along?
The ladies are entirely too grown to be backing and forthling like this. At this point, each member should understand that the masses do not care for different “versions” of En Vogue. Either make it work or take a bow and end gracefully.
Dawn Robinson is En Vogue.
Dawn robinson is lucy pearl 🙂
Dawn Robinson is everythang, boo! Go on and make that solo album once and for all.
She already did make the solo album and it bombed like world war II…Honestly they all are good singers and harmonizers and I think they all need to stay together…All original members but I do feel that Cindy and Terry need to get on board with new management!!! Their prior management is doing nothing for the group!!!
Think about it, if destinys child never changed members, this would be them…..
truth!!!!
AND THAT PISSES ME OFF THAT PEOPLE NEVER GIVE MICHELLE CREDIT WHEN IT’S DUE. IF SHE NEVER CAME IN THAT GROUP THE WRITINGS ON THE WALL WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE LAST ALBUM FLAT OUT!
THIS IS SAD, THEY ARE SUCH A LEGENDARY R&B GROUP 🙁
It’s interesting to hear them speak on what happened back in the day to cause Dawn to leave (I never knew) but they didn’t really address what has happened NOW. I’m really disappointed in this split and wish they wouldn’t use the name because 2 of them is NOT the En Vogue I know & love.
No one cares about En vogue splitting in 2012 ( and i actually like them)
While at their prime they gave me their best,so if they desire to make fools of themselves now,i have their classics to reminisce on *plays Don’tLetGo*
Dawn and Max were all I look for anyway.
Cyndi and Terri are bland and won’t sell as much
I support Max and Dawn. Dawn was the Beyonce back in the day
En Vogue will not end because there is money in touring. They need each other because they are a group they share lead. Dawn and Max sing most of the leads songs on the CD “Born to Sing”.
No they don’t. Cindy was the more prominent lead on most of the Born to Sing album, followed by Terry. Dawn and Max were the more dominant on Funky Diva’s.
What a shame them SWV , Jade & Good Girls where he best girl groups back in the day I was looking forward to a new album with all members.
this is sad, such an AMAZING POWERFUL GROUP, I dont like seeing this drama, LET IT GO LADIES!!!!
It’s a shame that this is happening, they need to stand together as a foursome because it seems that the problems they have come from outside forces and not from within the group. I wish them all the best.
I don’t see how they made a fool of themselves. They just stated the situation that had occurred. More artist & groups need to do this so upcoming artist can know how the music biz really is. & the general public needs to know, so we can stop buying into all the crap of the industry, & strive for better.
I don’t blame them for going seperate ways, doing their own thing. Its easy for outsiders to say “They’re too old to be fighting/splitting up like this”. Age has nothing to do with a situation whenever it comes to standing up for what you believe in. That’s what I get from EnVogue’s situation. Terry and Cindy seem like the type of people who like to settle for anything and in any career field you can’t sit back and settle. If you do, you’ll get taken advantage of and played like a toy.
The comment about Cindy and Terry is not a fair statement/assumption. Cindy and Terry were not interviewed, so their side of the story is not told. There is always three sides to a story. (Max and Dawn’s) side, (Terry and Cindy’s) side and, THE TRUTH.
Honestly, this makes me sad because I hate to see women that were apart of some of the biggest musical acts in their decade end up broke. There is no reason for EnVogue to be suffering financially. So many artists from the 60’s and 70’s didn’t earn what they were entitled to. You would think that by the 90’s a powerful force like EnVogue would see all the members in that gorup secure. I have to say that I agree 100% with Dawn and I understand her simply logic. It’s just a shame that these girls didn’t renegotiate their deal from the start of their success. Now unfortunately this group is nothing apart! All 4 members are needed to make EnVogue happen. They’re all extremely hot together, this is not the Jackson 5! All the ladies were MJ!
http://www.thepagewithroyalkev.com
You never saw TLC or SWV acting like this..
Um, yes I did. Left Eye damn near quit TLC with the release of Fan Man and resisted being there to promote it…and Coko sent Taj and Leelee letters through her reps saying that she wasn’t interested in continuing with SWV.
Virtually all female groups hit this kind of wall eventually.
LOL…Chile please…TLC made the blueprint for female drama within a group. Every time you saw them on the news it was drama. Left Eye burning up houses, Bankruptcy, Holding Clive Davis at gunpoint.
This is really sad 🙁
I’ll always love their music regardless. I prefer this version of the group tbh, but I have nothing against Cindy and Terry and I hope the original group reunites someday. It’s too bad they can’t resolve their differences though. If Dawn hadn’t left back then, they would have extended their prime and made a lot of more hits…
P.S : They have all aged amazingly well, especially Dawn!
Money talks everything else walks… i dont blame them for walking out… its like do i work this dead end job at McDonalds or do i do better and dawn and max are trying to do better.
TV and the social media forum is no place for business veterans to be arguing over personal matters. These women need to come out of themselves and honor the powerful sisterhood that En Vogue was founded on, because right now they’re looking like some brand new low-rate reality show. Get it together ladies!!
I like them as a whole versus apart. Plus most of the division seems to be about what happened back in the day. I would think that if they are as committed to the music and their brand then they would find a way to make it work. Smh.
I agree with you, I am not understanding why people are saying they like Dawn and Maxine better…They all are amazing together and its know with the solo attempts that they are not accepted apart as solo artist. I hope they find sone way of working this out, but I do agree with them getting new management because the old management is not making anything spectacular happen for them. That is the obvious!!!
This is a group thats great together.
You people are naive. This is the music BUSINESS. They aren’t a bunch of girls doing karaoke or singing in a church choir. Do you do your jobs for free? My guess is no. And if your boss refused to ever give you a raise or attempted to dock your pay, while still working you to hell and back, you would walk…no matter how much you enjoyed what you do, how much success you’d have there or how well you work with your co-workers. I see nothing wrong with Dawn and Max’s stance here. To say that they’re too old to be acting like this is ludicrous. Mary Wilson and Diana Ross refuse to work together to this day because of money issues. What makes you think En Vogue should be any different? If the money’s not right and there isn’t enough respect, then the show can’t go on. Your memories of how you perceive the good old days obviously isn’t the reality for them.
I totally agree…. I love Max and Dawn they had the two distinctive voices in EnVogue.
To the person who said TLC would never be seen like this…LOL…Chile please…TLC made the blueprint for female drama within a group. Every time you saw them on the news it was drama. Left Eye burning up houses, Bankruptcy, Holding Clive Davis at gunpoint. A great group but they definitely had their share of drama.
Here’s The Real Drama of EN VOGUE History!
They didn’t renegotiate their contract from 1989 when they did their sophomore album. In 1993, En Vogue toured with the late & the great Luther Vandross, but rumors started flying that the girls did not get along with Vandross. The tour was suppose to be two months but En Vogue pulled out not long after the tour start. It got so bad between Vandross & En Vogue that supposedly one of the girls wondered on the wrong side and Vandross called the cops. The real reason for that En Vogue pulled out of the tour was said to be stress for member Herron because she was pregnant at the time.
Here’s a statement from what Herron mentioned about the tour. “Cindy Herron’s pregnancy, the 29-year-old singer says her doctor also ordered her off the road because of the stress of working with Vandross. “We’ve been having a lot of problems with Luther,” says Herron. “(Our) nickname for him is Lucifer.”
Herron, who is married to baseball’s Glenn Braggs, thinks the friction stems from the group’s request to have their band moved off stage during their set. Audience members, she says, were complaining that the band blocked the foursome. Vandross’ camp vetoed the idea, and from then on, says Herron, he stopped talking to them, ordered that the two camps eat separately while on the road, and instructed his crew to hang drapes so he wouldn’t have to see the group backstage. “We heard he could be difficult,” says Herron, who adds that she was also having difficulty sleeping on the bus and eating properly. “We feel sorry for him. This reflects an unhappy person.” Vandross’ representatives had no comment.”
Second problem was Dawn being forced to sign a two year contract with the group because Sylvia Rhone thought she was not committed to the group as she had a solo deal with Dr Dre but that fell through eventually, but Terry did a solo album in 1995 because the business side of En Vogue kept stalling, so Dawn left the group in 1997 right before EV 3 dropped. Third problem was their producers and songwriters Thomas McElroy & Denzil Foster. Fourth problem was in 2001 En Vogue switched record labels from a major label to a independent label then Maxine left the group in 2002, she was replaced by Amanda Cole, who then left a year later. In late 2001, Robinson released her first solo single ‘Envious’ which failed to chart because of low airplay. However, on January 29, 2002, Robinson released her solo project on major label Atlantic, which also failed to make a big impact on the charts. Also in 2003, Herron was absent from the group on a temporary leave while the group toured overseas. Jones returned to fill in for Herron for the time being. fifth problem was in 2004, Rhona Bennett was added as a new member in the group and recorded the album ‘Soul Flower’ with En Vogue. In mid 2004, Jones returned back to the group full time. Sixth problem was Dawn returned to the group in 2005 and recorded and filmed a music video ‘So What The Fuss’ by Stevie Wonder, however, she decided the business was not right so she left the group for a second time, seven problem was Rhona returned to the group in 2006 to 2008 and left again once Dawn returned to the group in 2008, then in December 2011, Dawn left the group for a third time. In 2010, En Vogue signed a recording deal with independent label RuffTown Records but Dawn didn’t sign it because she wanted to wait for something better. Maxine was on Dawn’s side but decided to sign it any ways. Eventually, a song was leaked called “I’ll Cry Later” but was quickly pulled a month later off of radio because En Vogue was trying to get out of their bad record deal. Next problem was after En Vogue’s May 26, 2012 concert in Dallas, Texas with Charlie Wilson & Dazz Band. Jones stopped making appearances with the group; In June 2012, Bennett was asked to come back as a temporary member while the girls (Terry & Cindy) continue to do spot dates from June 2012- December 2012. In late July 2012, the blog sites announced Jones departure from the group after Robinson announced on her Twitter that Jones & her are starting their own group. Jones also called Ellis & Herron “evil & arrogant b******” on her Twitter feed. Max said she was forced out of the group, but Cindy & Terry said on Facebook that Max was not kicked out of the group, nor have they replaced Max with Rhona. In August 2012, it was revealed that Cindy & Terry are suing Jones for breach of her contract with En Vogue.
In September 2012 Herron’s Interview During a phone interview Herron explained where things stand and why she’s taking everything in stride.
Question: Are you personally involved in the day-to-day legal issues of En Vogue, or are you leaving it up to lawyers and managers?
Answer: I’m leaving that up to lawyers. But, you know, we are involved. We don’t talk every day. But we are involved.
Q: I read that Dawn and Maxine are forming their own version of En Vogue. From what you understand who’s entitled to the name En Vogue?
A: The legal owners are Terry, myself and Maxine.
Q: How can you stop the other group from using the name En Vogue?
A: It’s not a lawsuit or anything like that, it’s just an arbitration just to have some … we have an operating agreement. But there are some things that are sort of vague in the operating agreement, and we just have to have some sort of legal boundaries set so that we all understand what we can and can’t do concerning the name and some other little things. That’s it really.
Terry and I aren’t trying to stop Maxine from having any rights to the name because she is a legal owner of the name, so we’re not trying to have that taken away from her in any way, so that’s not a major issue.
Q: How did it come to be that you and Terry ended up on one side and Dawn and Maxine ended up on the other? Where did things go wrong?
A: Is this interview about us coming to town, or is it mostly about what’s going on with the group?
Q: Both, but you’ve been in the news for this…
A: Yeah, well, there’s a lot that I’m not able to speak on, honestly, until we are able to have our day of arbitration, so I really can’t speak on a lot of that.
Q: I saw En Vogue a couple years ago at the Macy’s Music Festival here in Cincinnati, and it was a great show, so I’m wondering how things went so badly since then.
A: I’m not going to speak on specifics, but with any group, there’s always going to be issues. We have to work as best as we can as a democracy, and everyone has their input artistically and on business matters. But there’s always going to be times when we all don’t agree on which direction to go.
But when you have four separate parties, or three separate parties, or two, feeling very strongly about which way is really the right way, then you have to decide, OK, can we even make a decision? And sometimes you have to set it aside for a minute just for the sake of getting on stage and continuing to do shows. And we’ve been able to do that. And sometimes we go with someone else’s viewpoint just for the sake of keeping the peace, and vice versa. But I think we got to a point where we just could not settle on one way.
The last show Dawn (did) since having come back with us was in December. At that time, her reason for leaving was she had gotten an offer for a hip-hop tour, to go do her thing as a solo artist.
Maxine left because we all couldn’t agree on the things concerning our business. So she decided to not do any more shows with us. Then I guess the next thing we heard was that she and Dawn had united for the purposes of going out and doing new shows and also announced that they’d be doing their own solo ventures as well.
Q: You sound extremely calm. I don’t hear any emotion in your voice. You’re very matter-of-fact, but I’m sure it has to be frustrating.
A: It’s not the first time that we had to find someone to step in. Obviously, after Dawn left the first time, Maxine, Terry and I continued on, working and recording. And then there was a time when Maxine quit, and then Terry and I had to find another member to do live shows with us.
We’re not fretting about it. It’s great when it’s the four original members, because we work so well together on stage. We have a chemistry that works really well, and obviously the fans love to see the four original members.
Ultimately Terry and I feel like our lives and careers are in God’s hands, and whatever His will is, we’ll accept that, whether we work as En Vogue or if we walk away and embark on totally new ventures in our lives.
It’s not lack of talent, it’s communication and the business side of En Vogue that’s messy.
Cindy & Terry have been the closet while Maxine & Dawn were the closest in the group.
Most of its true except the part where Dawn left the first time. EnVogue didn’t want to resign with management because even though they had hit songs from the first two albums most of the money was paid to management and they were given a salary. Money went to writers, producers, recording costs etc and EnVogue wanted to be paid decently since it was making millions for everyone else they were getting peanuts. All four members agreed not to sign however it was Terry Ellis who split the group after she was offered a Solo record from the management if she would break from the group and sign. Terry Ellis signed the EnVogue contract which weakened the deal the others were holding out for. As a result of Terry signing Cindy and Max gave in and signed but Dawn refused and was sent packing. Dawn was picked up as a vocalist for Lucy Pearl and later got a solo deal. Terry Ellis released Southern Gal which bombed and Dawn released her album which bombed as well. EnVogue never worked as a Trio and then all the other stuff happened that you posted…… It was a great account…. Thanks…
DAWN & MAXINE ARE JUST STUPID & SELFISH… TERRI & CINDI KEPT THE GROUP TOGETHER POINT BLANK.. DAWN HAS HAD 4 DEALS SHE HAS BEEN DROPPED FROM MANY DEALS.. ASK RAPHAEL ABOUT HOW SELFISH & STUPID DAWN IS….
MAXINE GROW UP.. YOU KNOW BETTER…
PRAY THEY ALL GET BACK TOGETHER AS ONE FOR THE FANS EVEN IS THEY CAN’T STAND EACH OTHER.. DO THE BUSINESS..THEY ARE ALL OVER 48 YEARS OLD.. SAD. BUT I DONT BLAME CINDY AND TERRI. THEY ARE CLASSY…
DO YOUR RESEARCH EVERYONE.. BORN TO SING IS ENVOGUE’S FIRST ALBUM, SO SAD.. I BET TERRY AND CINDY ARE SAD OVER THIS AND WISH IT COULD WORK…****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Actually it was Terry Ellis who broke the group up. She signed a deal with management for a solo album. That forced Cindy and Max to resign with EnVogue for less money and Dawn wouldn’t sign so was forced to leave. So Terry Ellis broke up EnVogue not Dawn Robinson
Dawn was always my favorite. Even though they split they will kind of make more money because its two now. I don’t think Dawn is wrong she didn’t want to settle for less. I wish she would have had great management for her Solo career, or EV had it so they could have stayed together & got the Grammy they deserved!
All four held out for a better deal after the second album. Terry Ellis was offered a Solo album if she would break away from the other girls and sign so she did. Forcing Max and Cindy to sign for less money. Dawn wouldn’t sign and was left with no option but to leave.
Maxine Jones – Didn’t I (audio) http://wp.me/p1AQuw-Of