The members were just exactly what Foster and McElroy were looking for:Women with beauty,class,sass,elegance,sexiness,stunningness,style and sophistication.After they found their women,the new group performed a song or two on Foster & Mcelroy's FM2 album.The group lived together for a while and because of so many singing competitions that took place,Robinson suggested that they enter them to remain strongly active.Before the work and recording of their debut album began,one day,they had a singing session.They were in Foster's car, getting warmed up as they prepared to sing "Who's Lovin' You?" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.Suddenly,Foster turned on the drum machine accidently. The girls liked the catchy,funky beats that it made and thought it would be a really great idea to sing the lyrics over them. But Foster had a better idea,to write and produce an original,answer song called "Hold On". That first single became a crossover,pop smash hit,reaching #2 on the pop charts and made #1 on the r&b charts.The single aided the debut album "Born To Sing",released in 1990,go platinum.Then, a remix album,"Remix To Sing" followed later within the next year.
The classic girl group that they're often related and compared to the most is The Supremes.But what makes En Vogue so different that they're unique from all of the others is the fact that they all shared in singing lead,purposely designating no particular singer as the "star." Herron appeared in the film Juice(1992) in between albums. When the recurred in the autumn of 1992 with their sophomore attempt "Funky Divas",that album did even better going multi-platinum.Commercial response was high and there were great reviews.Though the group is influenced mainly by the genre r&b,they went all into other styles of music,including pop,rap,reggae and rock,given the worthiness of the album praised in print.The first three singles, "My Lovin'(You're Never Gonna Get It)","Giving Him Something He Can Feel"(a remake of one of Aretha Franklin's song and borrowed from Curtis Mayfield),and "Free Your Mind"(using George Clinton's chorus line with permission),all topped the top ten.They returned to the top ten again in 1993,backing the female pop-rap trio Salt-N-Pepa on their hit "Whatta Man".Another LP,Runaway Love,came out that year.
En Vogue accomplished alot of things and succeeded through many experiences throughout the next years.They opened doors for more,future girl groups,they were the first,black female new jack r&b group to appear on the front cover of Vogue magazine,they struck an endorsement deal to be in a Sprite commercial,they won awards at the Soul Train and Lady of Soul Awards shows and more.They group made a t.v. guest appearance on an episode of the series "A Different World" and played hookers in the 1995 film Batman Forever.The group took a three-year recess from recording as a group before their next LP would come out.Though Ellis made her solo debut with the release of "Southern Gal" in 1995.Dissatisfied with the treatment of the group's props and royalties,Robinson left the group for a solo career in 1996,but she joined Tony!Toni!Tone's! Raphael Saadiq and A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad to form the group Lucy Pearl before that.The rest over En Vogue went on to record EV3.But before it was issued in 1997, they contributed one of the cd's tracks "Don't Let Love(GO)" to the "Set It Off" sountrack,which became a #2 single.The group's first compilation "The Best Of En Vogue" came to be in the summer of 1999. The next year,"Masterpiece Theater" came out.Meanwhile,Robinson's first,solo cd "Dawn", was released in early 2002.At the end of the year,En Vogue's holiday album "The Gift Of Christmas" appeared.
Members of En Vogue:
Terry Ellis
Maxine Jones
Cindy Herron
Dawn Robinson
Amanda Cole
Rhona Bennett