Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson: the original members of 90s girl-group En Vogue, reunited once again to perform together in concert at the 4th Annual Plymouth Jazz Festival in Tobago last weekend (peep the photos below). The last time fans witnessed the original members of En Vogue together was when they joined Salt N Pepa for the girl groups' first ever joint public performance of their respective 1993 chart-topping hit, Whatta Man, for VH-1's Hip Hop Honors show in September of 2005. Shortly after, Dawn pulled her 'I'm outta here' card and went ghost. It's no secret the members of En Vogue came and went and changed more than the each season of the year. Talk about coming and going...Anywhoo, fast forward to 2008. The quartet a.k.a. the Funky Divas, who have been deemed as the best vocal female R&B group of all of time (for obvious reasons), mildly disappointed fans after opening their set with their hit song, My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It). The ladies used music tracks instead of performing with a live band. However, according to sources, overall, the group's harmonies were flawless and stage presence was solid. The ladies-specifically Ellis--brought down the house with their closing song, Hold On. Backstage, organizers held a brief press conference where the ladies discussed their appearance in Tobago. "Just all of our personalities come out when we are back together again. It's always the same way. We're like sisters not seeing each other again coming back together," said Robinson about the experience. "It's natural! Very natural," Jones chimed in. When probed about why the group originally split and had they resolved their previous differences, things got a little tense.
Robinson spoke first.
"Uh, it was a little complicated," she began.
AFTER THE JUMP, FIND OUT IF THE FUNKY DIVAS HAVE PLANS TO REUNITE...FOR THE UMPTEENTH TIME, THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH ONE ANOTHER AND IF THERE WILL BE A 5th MEMBER OF THE GROUP ON STAND-BY JUST IN CASE DAWN LEAVES.....AGAIN.
Ellis interjected: "There was never a breakup. Dawn wanted to go solo and we were all pursuing different things at the time. That's just what it was." In 1995, Ellis released a solo CD called Southern Gal. When Robinson left En Vogue to pursue a solo career in 1997, the newfound trio released EV3 that year and later Masterpiece Theater in 2000 before being dropped by Elektra Records. In 2001, Jones departed the group to spend time with her family and was replaced by a singer named Amanda Cole. The revamped En Vogue then released a holiday CD called The Gift of Christmas. After the CD bowed, Cole vacated the group and was replaced by singer/actress Rhona Bennett, who was previously signed to Epic Records and was a recurring cast member on The Jamie Foxx Show. Around the same time, Robinson – having been ousted from the R&B collective Lucy Pearl by its founder Raphael Saadiq – released her solo self-titled opus, which basically went unnoticed. In 2004, the Cindy-Terry-Rhona combined En Vogue released an independent CD called Soul Flower. Jones returned to the group sporadically around this as well.With Robinson now back in the picture, where does that leave Bennett? "Rhona is also still with the group," Herron offered. "She will be working with us as we need her. It's all about balancing everything. We have to work our shows into our family life. But balance is the key." The group was unable to provide any insight as to whether they will record again or if this reunion was just a trial situation. "We'll take it from here. We'll do the show for now I guess and take it from there and see how things go," explained Robinson.
"Right," Ellis confirmed.
"We're blessed to be together right now," Robinson closed.
Page 2 excerpts: AOL BlackVoices.
