En Vogue Gets Candid About Ups and Downs, Ex-Members Dawn Robinson and Rhona Bennett and New Tour with TLC (Exclusive)

Janine RubensteinSun, March 29, 2026 at 4:26 PM UTC

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En VogueCredit: Courtesy of En Vogue -

En Vogue opens up about group shake-ups and what they say really happened with ex-members Dawn Robinson and Rhona Bennett in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE

"We've put the past behind us," says newly returned member Maxine Jones

The iconic girl group will soon head out on tour with fellow hit '90s acts TLC and Salt-N-Pepa

There's a reason En Vogue has lasted as long as they have. It's in the name.

"That name fit us because we felt like our music is on the cutting edge," member Cindy Herron tells PEOPLE exclusively of when they first came up with it back in 1990. "And then with getting the right wardrobe, we started dressing in cutting-edge style."

A lot has changed since then, but the iconic girl group best known for their perfect harmonies is still looking and sounding the part.

Herron, 64, along with fellow original members Terry Ellis and Maxine Jones, recently performed at the iHeart Radio Music Awards alongside 90s girl group counterparts TLC and Salt-N-Pepa. (The three acts are gearing up to hit the road together for the It's Iconic Tour this summer.)

TLC, En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa performing at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards on March 26.Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty

"We're really excited," says Ellis, 62. "Thank God for the '90s music people. They really, really want to hear us."

Ellis, Herron and Jones, 64, plus exited original member Dawn Robinson, ruled the '90s with hits like "Free Your Mind", "Hold On" and "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)."

Nicknamed The Funky Divas, they helped inspire later R&B acts like Destiny's Child and Xscape.

And though the group has gone through ups and downs, and a number of shake-ups, most of the original gang is finally back together.

Jones recently returned after leaving the group 10 years ago. "At the time we had irreconcilable differences," she says of why she stepped away.

"I had to raise my daughter," she adds. "It was her teenage years, and that was just really important to me. But I'm here right now. We've put the past behind us."

Maxine Jones in the music video for 'Free Your Mind' by En Vogue.Credit: En Vogue/YouTube

Years before Jones parted ways, they'd tapped singer Rhona Bennett to step in and eventually join the group. Originally, Herron says, "She was a team player, a very quick study and an excellent vocalist."

But after a decade, things recently became more difficult as the group struggled to come to terms on a new operating agreement.

"There was a lot of going back and forth between attorneys," says Ellis. "But we allowed her to continue to work even though it wasn't signed yet, just giving grace."

Then came the group's performance at the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. With Bennett's contract still up in the air and Jones having returned to the group, the three performed without Bennett, 49, who had another engagement.

(From left to right): Rhona Bennett, Maxine Jones, Terry Ellis and Cindy Herron with Jennifer HudsonCredit: Chris Haston/WBTV via Getty

"Next thing we know, we hear on social media that she left, she's gone," says Ellis of Bennett, who announced on Facebook that after more that 20 years with En Vogue she was leaving and entering a "new season" in the wake of missing the performance.

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Adds Ellis, "She could be here, she chose not to be."

It all harkens back to the group's first major shakeup, when Robinson, 59, chose to depart in 1997 near the height of their fame.

"Never in a million years would I have thought that she would leave," says Ellis. "She would just have moments of upset and 99% of the time, we didn't even know why."

Adds Jones, "I remember when she left, me calling her up and saying, 'Are you crazy? Why?' I literally begged her."

(From left to right): Cindy Herron, Dawn Robinson, Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones attend the first annual MTV Movie Awards in 1992.Credit: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty

Robinson, 59, parted ways when contract negotiations reached a stalemate, just before the group released their third studio album, later named EV3.

"Dawn's platform for the longest has been that we've been broke, that we never made any money, that we got two pennies per album," says Ellis. "And that's not the case. Ours was a standard contract, we all signed off on it."

From there, "Egos got bigger, says Jones. "She became adamant about being solo. She's the star. Dawn has been that girl since day one. The wild one. She's never changed."

Recently, Robinson — who over the years has reunited with the group for one-off special performances and anniversaries — made headlines for sharing on social media that she lives out of her car.

Dawn Robinson in 2013.Credit: Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty

Says Herron, "You're letting the world in on what should be private moments and then they take that and run with it."

"People are like 'how dare you guys, she's living in her car,' but they have no idea," adds Ellis. "She's told us multiple times, 'I'll never come back.' The door has never been closed to Dawn. We've always wanted her back. We wish her the best."

Bennett did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Robinson, meanwhile, could not be reached.

En VogueCredit: Courtesy of En Vogue

For Ellis and Herron, who've remained active members of the group for 35 years, they still remember the group's happy early days."I remember Dawn calling me at seven o'clock in the morning and I answered the phone, and she was just screaming. She was like, 'Our song is on the radio,' " says Ellis of when hit "Hold On" first hit the airwaves. "I jumped up. I was like, 'Oh my God, this is happening.' "

These days, says Herron, "It takes a little more push. The vocal cords don't always want to do what I want them to do. But it's perfectly fine because you can't be who you were yesterday. You can only be who you are in the moment."

And in this moment, they couldn't be more excited about heading out on tour. Despite the ups and downs they've faced as a group, "We are moving forward," says Ellis. "And we've continued to move forward."

The It's Iconic Tour, featuring TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, kicks off on Aug. 15. Tickets are available to purchase now.

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