En Vogue
Promotional photo of En Vogue as of 2006. Left to right: Cindy Herron, Rhona Bennett, Terry Ellis, and Maxine Jones. Cindy Ann Herron (born September 26, 1961 in San Francisco California) is a soprano Singer and an original (and eldest member of the Rhona Lynn Bennett, (born May 10, 1976 in Chicago Illinois) is an American singer actress and model This article refers to the En Vogue singer For the co-founder of Chrysalis Records see Terry Ellis (manager. Maxine Jones (born January 16 1966 in Paterson, New Jersey) is one of the original members of the R&B singing group En Vogue
Background information
Origin	Oakland, California, United States
Genre(s)	R&B Soul
Years active	1990-present
Label(s)	Atlantic (1990-1991) EastWest (1992-2000) 33rd Street (2004)
Members
Terry Ellis (1990-present) Cindy Herron (1990-present) Maxine Jones (1990-2001, 2003-present) Rhona Bennett (2003-2005, 2006-present)
Former members
Dawn Robinson (1990-1996, 2005, 2008) Amanda Cole (2002-2003)

En Vogue is a Grammy nominated American female R&B vocal quartet assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy. Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Contemporary R&B (also known as R&B, urban) is a Music genre of western Popular music (predominantly American and Canadian Soul music is a Music genre that combines Rhythm and blues and Gospel music, originating in the United States. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Atlantic Records ( Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American Record label best known for its many recordings of Rhythm & blues, Rock East West Records is an American Record label, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under WMG's Independent Label Group. 33rd Street Records is an Independent record label based in Greenbrae California. This article refers to the En Vogue singer For the co-founder of Chrysalis Records see Terry Ellis (manager. Cindy Ann Herron (born September 26, 1961 in San Francisco California) is a soprano Singer and an original (and eldest member of the Maxine Jones (born January 16 1966 in Paterson, New Jersey) is one of the original members of the R&B singing group En Vogue Rhona Lynn Bennett, (born May 10, 1976 in Chicago Illinois) is an American singer actress and model Dawn Robinson (born November 28 1968, New London, Connecticut) is an American R&B / soul / Dance-pop Singer The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Contemporary R&B (also known as R&B, urban) is a Music genre of western Popular music (predominantly American and Canadian Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy are an R&B record production duo which has produced hit singles for acts such as Club Nouveau, Tony! Toni! Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy are an R&B record production duo which has produced hit singles for acts such as Club Nouveau, Tony! Toni! To date, En Vogue has sold over twenty million albums and singles worldwide. They have won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven. The MTV Video Music Awards were established in the end of the summer of 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top Music videos of the year According to Billboard magazine, they were the eighteenth most successful act of the 1990s. See Billboard (Turkish magazine Billboard is a weekly American Magazine devoted to the Music industry

Biography

Assembled in Oakland, California in 1988, the original members were Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones, Dawn Robinson, and Terry Ellis. Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U Cindy Ann Herron (born September 26, 1961 in San Francisco California) is a soprano Singer and an original (and eldest member of the Maxine Jones (born January 16 1966 in Paterson, New Jersey) is one of the original members of the R&B singing group En Vogue Dawn Robinson (born November 28 1968, New London, Connecticut) is an American R&B / soul / Dance-pop Singer This article refers to the En Vogue singer For the co-founder of Chrysalis Records see Terry Ellis (manager. The inspiration behind the group came when the production duo of Foster and McElroy sought to put together a modern-day girl group in the tradition of past girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Looking for singers with strong voices, who looked salacious and were also intelligent, auditions were held, resulting in Herron, Jones, Robinson, and Ellis all making the final cut. Prior to the group's official name, they were primarily called "For You. " They shifted to "The Vogues," but ultimately settled on En Vogue, upon learning that another group had already claimed that name.

Music

1990-1991: Born to Sing

Born to Sing (1990. )

Born To Sing was released on April 3, 1990 . Born to Sing was En Vogue 's debut album which was released in 1990 The album charted at number twenty-one on the Billboard 200 and number three on Billboard's R&B Albums Chart. The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard The first single, "Hold On", became a crossover pop hit, reaching number two on Billboard's Hot 100 singles charts, and number one on both the R&B singles and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. " Hold On " was the debut single from En Vogue 's debut album Born to Sing. It later went top five in the UK, and became a hit in Europe. The next two singles, "Lies" and "You Don't Have to Worry," each went to number one on the Billboard R&B charts, while the fourth and final single, "Don't Go," charted at number three on the Billboard R&B. " Lies " was the second single from En Vogue 's debut album Born to Sing. " You Don't Have to Worry " was the third single from En Vogue 's debut album Born to Sing, it was the bands third consecutive number-one R&B single " Don't Go " was the final single from En Vogue 's debut album Born to Sing, it peaked at number three on the US R&B singles chart The album was later certified platinum by the RIAA.

"Hold On" was awarded a Billboard Music Award for "R&B Single of the Year," a Soul Train Award for "R&B/Urban Contemporary Single of the Year, Group, Band or Duo" and nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The Billboard Music Awards, sponsored by Billboard magazine and held annually in December is one of several annual United States music awards shows (among Soul Train is a music-related syndicated television program In its 35-year history the show has primarily featured performances by Rhythm and blues, soul The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences " In 1990, En Vogue signed an endorsement deal to appear in a Diet Coke commercial directed by Spike Lee.

A remix album Remix To Sing was released the following year.

1992-1993: Funky Divas

Funky Divas (1992. )

En Vogue's second album, Funky Divas, was released in the spring of 1992. Funky Divas was En Vogue 's second album which was released in 1992. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992 The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Billboard R&B and ultimately doubled the take of its predecessor, going multi-platinum and garnering positive reviews. The albums first two singles: "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" both went top ten pop, and peaked at number one on the R&B charts. " My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It " is the first single and Signature song from musical group En Vogue 's second album Funky Divas " Something He Can Feel " is a song composed by Curtis Mayfield for the soundtrack to the 1976 motion picture Sparkle. The next single, "Free Your Mind" also went top ten. "Free Your Mind" is the name of a Grammy Award -nominated hit single released by the all-female R&B group En Vogue in September The final two singles "Give It Up Turn It Loose" and "Love Don't Love You" both were top forty hits. For the James Brown song see Give It Up or Turnit a Loose " Give It Up Turn It Loose " was the fourth single from En Vogue " Love Don't Love You " was the final single from En Vogue 's second album Funky Divas.

The album went on to sell more than three million copies, won an American Music Award for "Favorite Soul/R&B Album," and was nominated for five Grammy Awards. The American Music Awards show is one of several annual major American music awards shows (among the others are the Billboard Music Awards the Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The dazzling music video for "Free Your Mind" earned the group three MTV Video Music Awards for "Best Choreography," "Best Dance Video," and "Best R&B Video. The MTV Video Music Awards were established in the end of the summer of 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top Music videos of the year " They were also honored with Soul Train's prestigious "Entertainer of the Year Award. " In addition to this, the group were featured in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Essence among other major publications. Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated as EW) is a Magazine published by Time Inc Essence is an American Fashion, Lifestyle and Entertainment Magazine.

Riding high on the success of Funky Divas, a six-song EP entitled Runaway Love was released in the fall of 1993, spawning the hit "Runaway Love. This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993. Events January "

The group were signed to an endorsement deal with Converse, and were featured as an opening act on Luther Vandross' 1993 tour. Luther Ronzoni Vandross ( April 20 1951 – July 1 2005) was an American R&B and soul Singer-songwriter Among the numerous countries toured were England, Germany, the Netherlands and France which confirmed the group's live vocal and performing prowess.

En Vogue also made numerous television appearances on such series as In Living Color, A Different World, Roc and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper (the latter two of which they also sang the show's theme songs. This article is about the television series For the band see Living Colour. Hangin' with Mr Cooper is an American Television Sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997 )

1994-1996: Downtime

In 1994, En Vogue were featured vocalists on Salt-N-Pepa's top ten hit "Whatta Man. Salt-n-Pepa is a Grammy -Award Winning American hip hop group from Queens New York that came into the music scene in 1985 and went on to " Whatta Man " which is a remake of Linda Lyndell's 1968 " What a Man " recorded for Volt records, is a 1994 single by Salt-N-Pepa " The following year, they were amongst numerous female vocalists featured on the song "Freedom" for the soundtrack to Panther. Panther is a 1995 film directed by Mario Van Peebles, from a screenplay adapted by his father Melvin Van Peebles, based on his book Also in 1995, group member Terry Ellis recorded a solo album entitled Southern Gal.

1996-1998: The departure of Dawn Robinson and EV3

EV3 (1997. )

En Vogue reunited in 1996 to record "Don't Let Go (Love)" for the soundtrack to the motion picture Set It Off. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996. " Don't Let Go (Love " is the first single from musical group En Vogue 's third studio album EV3. Set It Off is a 1996 Action - Drama Film directed by F Gary Gray, and stars Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah Released in the fall, it became the groups biggest hit to date; as the single peaked at number two on the Hot 100, number one on the R&B singles chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA. It, inadvertently, would also be the final En Vogue single to feature group member Dawn Robinson.

In response to the popularity of "Don't Let Go (Love)," the group steadfastly went to work on its third album. As the album was nearing completion, Robinson chose to leave the group in April 1997 after difficult contractual negotiations reached a stalemate. Events January January 9 - David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert Despite Robinson's abrupt departure, En Vogue resolved to continue on as a trio (forcing the group to re-record some of the tracks on their forthcoming album that had originally featured her on lead vocals. )

EV3, the groups third album, was released in the spring and debuted at number eight on both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard R&B charts. EV3 is the third Studio album by En Vogue. Originally called "Friendship" It was their first project that wasn't fully produced by Thomas The first single, the Babyface-penned and produced "Whatever" went on to become a twenty pop hit, a top ten R&B hit, while also peaking at number five on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. " Whatever " is the second single from musical group En Vogue 's third studio album EV3. The single later went on to be certified gold by the RIAA. The followup single "Too Gone Too Long" (which was produced by David Foster and written by Diane Warren) performed more modestly, managing to only peak in the top forty. " Too Gone Too Long " is a song by En Vogue, released as the final single from their third album EV3. David Walter Foster, OC, OBC, LLD (born November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956 in Van Nuys California) is an American Songwriter. Despite its being certified platinum, and the album being nominated for Grammy Award and a Soul Train Lady of Soul Award, sales of EV3 failed to live up to full commercial expectation. A world tour had been planned, but was canceled due to poor ticket sales.

Masterpiece Theater (2000. )

In 1998, En Vogue recorded "No Fool No More" for the soundtrack to the motion picture, Why Do Fools Fall In Love. This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998 " No Fool No More " is a song by En Vogue, released as the first single from ther soundtrack for Why Do Fools Fall in Love. The following year, a greatest hits compilation, The Best of En Vogue, was released.

2000: Masterpiece Theatre

Masterpiece Theatre, the groups fourth studio album, was released in May 2000. Masterpiece Theatre is a studio album by American R&B group En Vogue, released in 2000 by Elektra Records. The album debuted on the Billboard Hot 200 at number sixty-seven and thirty-three on the Billboard 200 and R&B charts respectively. The first (and only) single, "Riddle," peaked at a paltry number ninety-two and ninety-five on the Hot 100 and R&B charts. As a result of poor sales, En Vogue was dropped from the Elektra Record label.

2001-2003: New member

In 2001, En Vogue temporarily became a quartet again when Amanda Cole joined the group. Soon after, original member Maxine Jones left the group to focus more time on family. Ellis, Herron and Cole released a holiday album, The Gift of Christmas. Soon after the holiday album, Cole too left the group and was replaced with Rhona Bennett. Rhona Lynn Bennett, (born May 10, 1976 in Chicago Illinois) is an American singer actress and model Meanwhile, Robinson's first solo CD Dawn was released in early 2002. During the latter part of 2003, En Vogue toured Europe with Maxine Jones rejoining the group to fill the place of Cindy Herron, who was on maternity leave.

2004: Soul Flower

Soul Flower (2004. )

In 2004, En Vogue (now comprised of Ellis, Bennett and Herron) released Soul Flower on independent label 33rd Street. While the album failed to chart on the Billboard 200, it managed to peak at number forty-seven on the R&B charts. The albums two singles: "Losin' My Mind" and "Ooh Boy", however, failed to chart. Soul Flower was En Vogue 's seventh album which was released in 2004 Soul Flower was En Vogue 's seventh album which was released in 2004

2005-2007: Impromptu Reunion

In 2005, after a eight year absence, Dawn Robinson rejoined En Vogue. The original four went on to sign with one of the industries largest management firms, The Firm Management Group. That September, they joined Salt N Pepa for the girl groups' first ever joint public performance of their 1994 hit, "Whatta Man" at VH-1's Hip Hop Honors, and briefly toured. They also earned another Grammy nomination for the single So What the Fuss, which featured Stevie Wonder and Prince. } "So What the Fuss" is a song from Stevie Wonder 's 2005 album A Time to Love. Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13 1950 name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American musician The group also appeared in the single's music video. After failing to agree on business terms, Robinson once again chose to defect En Vogue. As a result, En Vogue was let go from The Firm. En Vogue continued to perform spot dates in North America with Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones, Cindy Herron and Rhona Bennett. This line-up also saw the group return to Europe and Japan for select concert dates. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. During this time, En Vogue teamed up with Belgian singer Natalia for a song called "Glamorous. NataliaAR is the greatest of all greats and if you even take a glimpse of her you are so lucky if you live in australia you are extra lucky i cant tell you much more because no one knows much " The single reaching No. 2 in Belgium charts and will be followed by a DVD release.

2008-present: Dawn returns again

As of April 2008, Robinson has returned to En Vogue. She is said to be scheduled to perform with the group on several tour dates, including the 4th Annual Plymouth Jazz Festival in Tobago, alongside such mega-stars as Whitney Houston and Rod Stewart. Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Whitney Elizabeth Houston' (born August 9 1963 is an American Singer-songwriter, Actress, Film producer, Arranger and former Roderick "Rod" David Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945 is a Singer and Songwriter born and raised in London England and currently With the tentative return of Robinson, expectations of En Vogue planning a widescale commercial comeback seems imminent, however preemptive.

Television and Film

En Vogue has appeared in Sesame Street specials including Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration in 1993 and Elmopalooza in 1998. Sesame Street is an American educational Children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard combining Elmopalooza is a Sesame Street special that aired on ABC on February 20, 1998. In Sesame Street's 25th Birthday: A Musical Celebration the four original members sang "Adventure" about their adventures with some of the Sesame Street characters. The second song was "I Want a Monster"; a song about having a monster as a playmate. It appeared on Elmopalooza and was recorderd after Robinson's departure- featuring Terry Ellis, Maxine Jones and Cindy Herron. In Batman Forever they appeared in a cameo apperance as a group of prostitutes. See also Batman Forever (score, Batman Forever (soundtrack, Batman Forever (video game, Batman Forever The Arcade Game Batman En Vogue has also appeared in "A Different World" as a a group of country bumpkin sisters who want to sing. The group also appeared on more than one episode of the highly acclaimed Charles S. Dutton Fox 90's television show 'Roc", with one of the ladies playing a love interest of Rocky Carrol's character Joey who has to choose between staying with Joey or touring with the rest of the En vogue ladies. Their song "Live Your Life Today" was used as the theme song for Roc's later seasons.

Discography

See: En Vogue discography

• 1990: Born To Sing
• 1991: Remix to Sing
• 1992: Funky Divas
• 1993: Funky Divas Remixes
• 1993: Runaway Love EP
• 1997: EV3
• 1999: Best of En Vogue
• 2000: Masterpiece Theatre
• 2001: Very Best of En Vogue
• 2002: Gift of Christmas
• 2004: Soul Flower

Awards

Main article: List of En Vogue awards

External links

• En Vogue at Rock on the Net.