In 1988, Ellis performed in a lecture/concert with singer Kashif which turned out to an onsight audition for a proposed singing group to be created by Kashif and friends. Ellis later auditioned to sing in a upcoming female group. Initially, producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy had already chosen singers Dawn Robinson, Maxine Jones, and Cindy Herron to be in a three-piece girl group, but added Ellis after hearing her sing. After joining Ellis to the lineup, the group became a quartet and originally chose the name "For You", later changed to En Vogue. Ellis sang lead vocals on the intro of the group's first single "Hold On", which peaked at number 2 on "Billboard"'s Hot 100 chart, and sold over a million copies becoming platinum certified by the RIAA. Later that year, the group released their debut album "Born to Sing", which went platinum. Ellis also sang lead vocals on the singles "Lies" and "Don't Go", both of which charted in top-five positions on "Billboard's" Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.