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Raquel Tidblom

Mrs. Byrd

English 11

November 23, 2015

TLC

Dont go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you used to,

TLC sings in their 90s number one hit single, Waterfalls. These girls sang very melodious

songs about very real and deep issues in the world. The name, TLC, stands for their stage names,

Tionne T-Boz Watkins, Lisa Left Eye Lopes, and Rozonda Chili Thomas. TLC is one of

the most iconic girl groups of all time because of their major success, their wild personal lives,

and the tragic death of Lisa Left Eye Lopes.

TLC was one of the first of their kind. Three albums, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip,

CrazySexyCool, and Fanmail, earned them five Grammies and seven number one hit singles

(Dittrich 3). By blending Watkins smokey growl with Thomas diva-ish stylings and Lopes

pixie-voiced raps, the groups songs created a new and successful blend of hip hop, R&B, and

funk (Dittrich 3). Their sound was a major trend at the time. TLCs most successful album was

CrazySexyCool, which sold ten million copies by 1999 (Farley 10). They were the best-selling

female group of their time. Many other girl groups were soon to follow in their footsteps. Despite

TLCs success, they went bankrupt in 1995. They had an unfair record deal with LaFace and they

left their finances in the hands of other people. Some people thought they were faking their

bankruptcy to get more money. After a bit of negotiating, they signed a new deal with LaFace

records and soon regained their success. Even though they went bankrupt, TLC was still the

most successful group of their era.

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Perhaps the most interesting thing about TLC, was their personal lives. Tionne T-Boz

Watkins was the self-possessed one of the group. When she was seven year olds, she was

diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia (Farley 2). Her condition sometimes left her with

excruciating pain that left her unable to work. In 1996, she was the spokesperson for the Sickle

Cell Association of America. Tionne Watkins was also a victim of domestic violence by her

husband, Mack 10. Watkins says, My husband informed me that he would smash my teeth

down my throat. He then choked her and threatened to kill her. She soon requested for a

restraining order against him. In 2003, Watkins filed for divorce (TLC Member T-Boz 2). The

second member of TLC, Rozonda Chili Thomas, has a clear voice and can be described as love

struck. She grew up an only child and she never knew her biological father. She made it a goal to

meet her father one day and she finally met him in 1996 (Farley 2). With that, she also met new

family members. The last member of the group, Lisa Left Eye Lopes, was the rapper and was

very rebellious. She grew up with a very mean and strict father who would frequently yell at her

and her siblings. As she grew older, she picked up on his aggression. Lisa dated football player

Andre Rison in the early 90s, but in 1994 she was put on probation for burning down his million-

dollar home (Farley 2). A few years later, they got engaged and then broke up. The wild lives of

the TLC girls kept them popular and in the media.

The worst thing to ever happen to the group, was the death of Lisa Lopes. On April 25,

2002, she was killed in a car wreck in Honduras. Lopes was in Honduras because she vacationed

there often. She claimed that the place relaxed her and kept her away from being aggressive.

The band, the camera crew, Raina, and several others piled into a rented Mitsubishi Montero,

with Lisa taking the wheel. The packed Montero turned onto the narrow two-lane highway that

fronts Usha. As they picked up speed, Lisa made a comment to her sister, Raina, about how shed
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like to unwind with a card game later that night. Then a truck stopped abruptly on the highway

ahead of them. Lisa swerved left and drove off the road, into a shallow ditch. The SUV hit a

small tree and flipped. Lisa was not wearing a seatbelt. She was ejected from the vehicle and

landed on the hard rocks and soft soil, (Dittrich 6). This quote explains exactly what went

wrong during the crash. She was on her way to Usha to perform a small concert so, cameras were

documenting the whole trip and were rolling at the time of the crash. The health care conditions

in Honduras were very poor so it took some time for the ambulance to get to the urgent scene.

There was also very loose security, so paparazzi ended up getting pictures of Lisas lifeless body.

Lopes death was very abrupt and hard for everyone to accept. To be honest, we were in denial,

Watkins says. That was the only way we could work. It was like: Lisa is in Honduras or

California doing something. Shell be back. We never really had a chance to grieve,(Jones 1).

At the time they were working on their last album 3D. It was estimated around 30,000 people

showed up to Lisa Lopes funeral (Dittrich 7). Her death was very tragic for everyone who knew

her.

Because of their successful albums, their personal lives, and the death of member Lisa

Lopes, TLC is the most iconic girl group of all time. Not many artists can claim to have won 5

Grammies with only three albums out. They were also always in the media with some wild new

story written about something they had done. TLC might have still been active today if Lopes

hadnt died so tragically soon. But then again, one shouldn't go chasing waterfalls.

Works Cited

Dittrich, Luke. After Lisa. Atlanta 42 (Dec 2002): 108. 5 Nov. 2015.

Farley, Christopher John. The Spicier Girls Time 153 (1 March. 1999): 70. 5 Nov. 2015.

Jones, Steve. TLCs 3D is a Lisa Lopes tribute as spirited as she was USA Today. (14 Nov.
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2002): 1. 5 Nov. 2015.

Powers, Ann. Chilli, Left Eye and T-Boz Explore the Soul of the Fly Girl on Fan Mail.

Rolling Stone 808. (18 March. 1999): 61. 5 Nov. 2015.

TLC Member T-Boz Files For Divorce From Rapper Husband Mack 10. Jet 106. (5 July.

2005): 31. 5 Nov. 2015