En Vogue star Dawn Robinson has opened up about being ‘homeless’ and living in her car for almost three years in an emotional YouTube video posted on Tuesday
A 90s icon has opened up about being homeless and living out of her car for the past few years.
Ex En Vogue star Dawn Robinson has dropped a bombshell, revealing that she’s been living out of her car for nearly three years – and she’s not the only throwback singer with housing hardships.
The RandB legend who helped En Vogue sell a whopping 20 million records worldwide shared her harrowing story in a tear-jerking YouTube video on Tuesday.
“For the past three – almost three years, I have been living in my car… I said it. Oh my God,” the 58-year-old singer admitted, despite having enjoyed a successful solo career after her time with En Vogue.
In 2020, Dawn was hit by the harsh reality that she needed to leave the Las Vegas pad she called home with her mum. She opened up about the heart-wrenching choice, saying: “I can’t deal with this. I respect her too much.
“I didn’t understand it. I still don’t and it hurt me. I was just trying to figure it out but I couldn’t … you can’t read someone else’s mind and you can’t figure them out.”
Leaving meant Dawn had to brave the blistering heat, sleeping in her vehicle for around a month. When word got out about her plight, her manager insisted she come back to LA, the city she loves, reports the Express.
The plan was for Dawn to crash with her manager until she found her feet again, but their pets threw a spanner in the works, as Mirror US reports.
Yet, her manager didn’t waver, securing her a hotel room which became her abode for an incredible “eight months,” shining a light of hope in her time of need.
Dawn, who was on the hunt for a new pad, faced a series of letdowns with her ex-boss in tow. Despite his offer to help her scout for properties, his nitpicking left them both empty-handed.
“I’m trying to make this easier on you because financially I know it’s got to be hard,” she remembered telling him as she grappled with the costs of rent and temporary hotel stays.
Her quest for a place coming up short, Dawn became fascinated with a new way of living – the car-dwelling community she stumbled upon online.
“There’s a whole community of people who live in their cars and a whole community of people who live in their RVs and a whole community of people who live in their vans,” she reflected, enthused by her findings. “And I loved what I was seeing. I just thought, ‘Wow, these people. I could do this, I think.'”.
So, in 2022, Dawn took a leap of faith and settled into her vehicle in Malibu. The beginning was rough, but now she wouldn’t change a thing.
Learning to master the ins and outs of vehicular habitation, like the art of concealing her windows, Dawn embraced a newfound liberation. She declared: “I felt free. That was a sense of freedom that I had. I was so free.”
This eight-time Grammy nominee chose life in her car to “go through this fire”, but she’s backed up by her brother Evin, assistant Niecy, and her unwavering “forever mother-in-law”.
The singer behind the hit ‘Free Your Mind’ has been documenting her journey for a future documentary, envisioning her eventual comeback.
She further stated, “Would I have an apartment right now if I had a choice? I would. I’m not going to lie, but am I glad that I did this. Absolutely proud of what I’ve accomplished out here.”
Dawn first auditioned for En Vogue in 1989 and reportedly left the group in 1997 due to contract disagreements, before rejoining for periods in 2005 and between 2008-2011 and again in 2019. The group enjoyed a string of hits including ‘My Lovin”, ‘Don’t Let Go’ and ‘Hold On’.
In the 2000s, she was also part of the group Lucy Pearl, alongside Raphael Saadiq and Ali Shaheed Muhammed.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
