Former En Vogue member Dawn Robinson reveals she’s been living in her car for 3 years

Former En Vogue lead singer Dawn Robinson has shared that she has been living in her car for the past three years. 

The 58-year-old singer provided an update about her living situation in a video posted on her YouTube account March 11. Robinson created the social media account in 2022 and regularly uploaded videos on the platform. But after posting in September 2024, she disappeared from the website. 

When she returned on March 11, she began her video by explaining that she had to “deal” with some aspects of her life and needed to step away. 

She vaguely touched on what she wanted to reveal, saying that some people in her life were worried she would be judged by what she had to share. “Part of being human is being vulnerable,” she said before addressing the changes in her life.

“You guys, for the past three years, I have been living in my car,” she shared and let out a scream. “I said it! Oh my God, it’s out.”

Robinson explained that in 2020 she was living with her parents in Las Vegas. They got along at first before she started butting heads with her mom. “I didn’t understand. I still don’t and it hurt me,” she recalled. The musician decided to leave and slept in her car for about a month before her co-manager at the time contacted her.

He advised her to return to Los Angeles. He also said she could move in with him, Robinson claimed. 

“Then when I got to his place, he actually didn’t have room for me,” she remembered. She said he checked her into a hotel for a night, but she ended up residing there for eight months. 

While searching for apartments, she told her assistant that she started researching “car life,” discovering people who lived in their vans, cars and RVs. 

“I loved what I was seeing. I just thought, ‘Wow I can do that. I can do this,’” she said. Robinson added that that was three years ago, on March 9, 2022, and she has been living in her vehicle ever since. 

She also opened up in the video about her relationship with her family. Robinson said that she is estranged from her sister and has three people in her life: Vilma, her “forever mother-in-law,” her assistant and her brother. 

As a woman and a celebrity, Robinson said that she hadn’t let many people know she was alone in her car to protect her safety. However, she said she felt “free” in her current living situation. 

“I felt like, ‘Wow, this is so different.’ I felt like I was on a camping trip,” she explained. She later shared that she has a gym membership so she has a place to shower. 

The powerful vocalist, heard on En Vogue’s hits like “Hold On” and “Don’t Go,” said she has no regrets and pointed out that many celebrities have had to sleep in their cars.

“This is not like, ‘Oh my God, poor Dawn. She’s living in her car. It’s terrible, Oh, woe is me,’” she told fans. “Like I said, I’m learning about who I am. I’m learning myself as a person (and) as a woman.” 

Although she would’ve never thought when she was in En Vogue that one day she would be living in her car, she said she is proud of herself and enjoying documenting her “adventure” for fans. She hoped that revealing this news would inspire fans and give them the courage to try anything. 

At the end of the video, she said, “When I succeed again, because I will, when I’m on top again or when I have a resurgence in my career again, the way that I want, getting to that point is only up to me. So from my car into that life is going to be amazing.”