TLC (group)
TLC is an American girl group formed in 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia. The group's best-known line-up was composed of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. The group enjoyed success during the 1990s, with nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number-one singles: "Creep", "Waterfalls", "No Scrubs", and "Unpretty". TLC also recorded four multi-platinum albums, including CrazySexyCool, which received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. They became the first R&B group in history to receive the million certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan for FanMail.
Having sold over 60 million records worldwide, TLC is one of the five best-selling American girl groups of all time. VH1 ranked TLC as the greatest female group, placing them at number 12 on the list of 100 Greatest Women in Music. Billboard magazine ranked TLC as one of the greatest musical trios, as well as the seventh-most-successful act of the 1990s. The group's accolades include five career Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, and five Soul Train Music Awards.
Twenty years after their debut, TLC received the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 17th MOBO Awards and the Legend Award at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. After Lopes' death in 2002, instead of replacing her, the remaining members chose to continue as a duo. In 2017, they released their eponymous fifth album TLC. In 2022, the group was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
History
1990–1991: Formation and early years
Record producer Ian Burke, based in Atlanta, and one of his clients, a teenager Crystal Jones came up with a concept for a girl group with a tomboyish, hip-hop image, similar to the blend of contemporary R&B and hip-hop music of new jack swing act Bell Biv DeVoe in 1990. Jones put out a call for two more girls to join her, eventually answered by Tionne Watkins, a native of Des Moines, Iowa who had moved to Atlanta with her family at a young age, and Lisa Lopes, a rapper who had just moved to the city from her native Philadelphia with a small keyboard and $750. The group, then named "2nd Nature", was formed with Jones, Watkins, and Lopes, who then began working with producers Jermaine Dupri and Rico Wade on demo tape material.Through a connection at the hair salon where Watkins worked, the group eventually managed to arrange an audition with singer Perri "Pebbles" Reid, who had started her own management and production company, Pebbitone. Impressed by the girls, Reid renamed the group TLC, an initialism for the names Tionne, Lisa, and Crystal. Reid arranged an audition for them with local record label LaFace Records, run by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Reid's then-husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid.
Antonio Reid saw potential in Watkins and Lopes as performers, but felt that Jones should be replaced. According to Jones, things began to unravel for her after Pebbles denied the group the opportunity to take home the contracts that Pebbitone had drafted. Jones did not want to sign before having the contract reviewed by others and perhaps a lawyer. In contrast, Watkins's recollection of Jones's departure is that both she and Lopes asked Jones to leave the group before their initial contracts were negotiated.
On February 28, 1991, Watkins and Lopes signed production, management, and publishing deals with Pebbitone, with Perri Reid becoming their general manager. As they looked for a replacement for Jones, the two-member TLC made its first recorded appearance on a track for LaFace act Damian Dame's self-titled 1991 LP. Pebbles found the third member in Rozonda Thomas, one of Damian Dame's part-time backup dancers.
Thomas was signed to the act in April 1991, and to maintain TLC's name as an acronym for the girls' names, Watkins became "T-Boz", Lopes became "Left-Eye", and Thomas became "Chilli". The girls were then signed to LaFace in May through the production deal with Pebbitone; their records would be distributed by Arista Records/BMG. TLC was immediately set up to go into the studio with Reid and Edmonds, Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and Marley Marl producing their first album. The new trio debuted as backing vocalists on "Rebel ", a track on Jermaine Jackson's sole album for LaFace, You Said.
1991–1994: ''Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip'' and early success
Their debut album, Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip, was released on February 25, 1992, by LaFace/Arista Records. The songs on the album are a blend of funk, hip-hop, and R&B, similar to the new jack-swing sound popularized by producer Teddy Riley in the late 1980s. The album was a critical and commercial success, being certified quadruple-platinum for shipments of four million copies in the United States. It scored three top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "Baby-Baby-Baby", and "What About Your Friends", as well as the top 30 single "Hat 2 da Back". Observers coined the term "new jill swing" to describe the album and the group. Later, TLC's sound evolved from the genre, but not before opening the door for similar groups such as SWV, Destiny's Child, 702, Jade, and the Lopes-produced Blaque.TLC's debut album, chiefly written by Dallas Austin and Lisa Lopes, consisted of playful lyrics, with some female-empowering songs. It was characterized by Watkins's contralto vocals, Thomas's mezzo-soprano vocals, and Lopes's soprano raps. The musical formula was augmented by the girls' brightly colored videos and peculiar costuming: each girl wore wrapped condoms on their clothing.
During that period, TLC recorded a song called "Sleigh Ride", which first appeared on the soundtrack of the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992. A year later, the song was released as a promotional single and music video for the 1993 holiday season, appearing on the compilation album A LaFace Family Christmas. Also in 1993, TLC released a cover version of The Time's 1981 hit "Get It Up" as a single from the Poetic Justice film soundtrack. During TLC's first national tour, as MC Hammer's opening act, Lopes and Thomas discovered that Watkins had sickle-cell anemia, a blood disorder which she kept as a closely guarded secret until becoming extremely ill while touring with TLC in the southwest US, ending up hospitalized, with Lopes and Thomas staying with her, resulting in the cancellation of some concerts. Watkins continued to battle her condition and eventually became a spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America in the late 1990s.
At the conclusion of the tour, TLC, who had received little monetary compensation up to this point, decided that they no longer wished to employ Pebbles Reid as their manager, in an effort to hold more control over their careers. Reid released the group from its management deal, but they remained signed to Pebbitone, and Reid continued to receive a share of their earnings.
Lopes began dating American football player Andre Rison shortly after the release of Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip, and by 1994 the two lived together in Rison's upscale home. Their relationship was allegedly violent at times, and Lopes filed an assault charge against Rison on September 2, 1993, which Rison denied. Lopes was battling alcoholism at the time, having been a heavy drinker since the age of 15. After another fight between the couple in the early morning hours of June 9, 1994, Lopes tossed numerous pairs of Rison's newly purchased shoes into a bathtub, doused them with lighter fluid, and lit them on fire. The fiberglass bathtub quickly melted and set the structural frame of the house on fire. Lopes was arrested and indicted on charges of first-degree arson; she was sentenced to five years of probation and a $10,000 fine. Rison eventually reconciled with Lopes and they continued dating on and off for seven years.
1993–1996: ''CrazySexyCool'', career height and bankruptcy
TLC's second studio album, CrazySexyCool, saw the group reunited with producers Dallas Austin, Babyface, and Jermaine Dupri, as well as new collaborators Organized Noize, Chucky Thompson, and Sean "Puffy" Combs. Lopes was released from rehab to attend the recording sessions, but the finished album featured significantly less of her raps and vocals. An R&B and hip hop soul album, CrazySexyCool featured hip-hop beats, funk, deep grooves, propulsive rhythms, and smooth production. Released on November 15, 1994, CrazySexyCool was critically acclaimed, with Rolling Stone ranking it among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. CrazySexyCool debuted at number 15. Eventually, it peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and spent over two years on the chart. The album sold over 7.7 million copies in the United States alone and received a diamond certification from the RIAA. Worldwide the album sold over 14 million copies.All four singles from CrazySexyCool reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100—"Creep" and "Waterfalls" reached number one, "Red Light Special" peaked at number two, and "Diggin' on You" reached number five. "Waterfalls", an Organized Noize-produced song that features an old-school soul-based musical arrangement, socially conscious lyrics criticizing drug dealing and unsafe sex, and an introspective rap from Lopes, became the biggest hit of TLC's career. Its million-dollar music video was an MTV staple for many months and made TLC the first black act to win MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. At the 38th Annual Grammy Awards, TLC took home Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for "Creep". Billboard also crowned TLC as the Artist of the Year at the 1996 Billboard Music Awards.
Amidst their apparent success, the members of TLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 3, 1995. TLC said that they had debts totaling $3.5 million, some of it due to Lopes's insurance payments arising from the arson incident and Watkins's medical bills, but the primary reason being that the group received what they called a less than favorable deal from Pebbitone. After Arista Records, LaFace, and Pebbitone recouped their investment for recording costs and manufacturing and distribution, both Pebbitone and LaFace Records went on to charge for expenses such as airline travel, hotels, promotion, music videos, food, clothing, and other expenses. According to the members of TLC, ironically, the more successful the album became, the more they were in debt. In addition to this, managers, lawyers, producers, and taxes had to be paid, leaving each member of the group with less than $50,000 a year after having sold millions upon millions of albums.
TLC sought to renegotiate their 1991 contract with LaFace, under which they received only 56 cents per album sold—considerably less than most major label recording contracts—and received even less than this for each single sold; TLC also wanted to dissolve their association with Pebbitone. LaFace Records refused to renegotiate their deal midway through the contract, thus prompting TLC to file a bankruptcy petition. Both Pebbitone and LaFace countered that TLC "simply" wanted more money and were in no real financial danger, resulting in two years of legal debates before the cases were finally settled in late 1996. TLC's contract was renegotiated with LaFace, and Pebbitone agreed to let them out of their production/management deal in exchange for Pebbitone receiving a percentage of royalties on some future releases. By this time, Pebbles had separated from her husband. TLC also bought the rights to their name, which was previously owned by Pebbles.
TLC recorded the theme song to Nickelodeon's popular sketch comedy All That, which was produced and co-written by Arnold Hennings. The show ran for ten seasons from 1994 to 2005, and was later revived in 2019. The group appeared on the soundtrack album of Forest Whitaker's 1995 film Waiting to Exhale with "This Is How It Works" and was set to re-enter the recording studio the following year after signing a new contract with LaFace, with distribution handled by Arista. Watkins marked her first solo release with "Touch Myself", a single from the soundtrack album of the 1996 film Fled; it reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lopes also collaborated with fellow female rappers Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Da Brat, and Angie Martinez on Lil' Kim's single "Not Tonight". It peaked at number six on the Hot 100 and was nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 40th Grammy Awards.