Image Source: Getty / Jeffrey Mayer
TLC is one of the greatest girl groups in history. The Atlanta-based trio, composed of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and Rozonda “Chili” Thomas, rose to stardom during the 1990s after releasing their platinum debut single, “Ain’t 2 Proud”. Moved towards 2 Beg,” which received a 1993 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song. Following their initial success, TLC sent nine of their singles to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart – four of which went to No. 1: “Creep”. ,” “Waterfalls,” “No Scrubs,” and “Unpretty.”
Now, more than three decades since the group first made its mark, Watkins and Thomas are looking back on their illustrious careers with the release of their new Lifetime documentary, “TLC Forever,” which will premiere June 3. According to the documentary’s official description, “TLC Forever” will touch upon not only the group’s historic success but also their greatest downfall, including “internal decline, external attacks, bankruptcy and illness” that threatened to tear the trio apart. Was. The two would also talk about Lopez’s death in 2002.
Learn more about what happened next with Lopez.
How did Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes die?
On April 25, 2002, Lopez died in a car accident, a few weeks before her 31st birthday on May 27. According to The New York Times, the accident occurred while Lopez was filming a documentary in Honduras. According to MTV News, the singer was driving a Mitsubishi Montero SUV and traveling from La Ceiba to San Pedro Sula when she lost control. The outlet also reported that according to authorities in Jutiapa, Lopez was not licensed to drive internationally and was apparently speeding when she lost control. The car crashed in Roma.
“Police said it veered off the road and flipped several times,” The New York Times reported at the time. While Lopez died at the scene, seven other passengers of the vehicle, including Lopez’s sister Raina and brother Ronald, survived.
Notably, the incident occurred just three weeks after Lopez was involved in another fatal accident that took the life of a Honduran boy named Byron Isaull Fuentes Lopez. Lopez’s assistant, Stephanie Patterson, was driving when the vehicle struck the child. Following the accident, Lopez reportedly paid for the boy’s hospital and funeral expenses, according to Entertainment Weekly.
What happened to TLC after Lisa Lopez’s death?
Following Lopez’s death, Watkins and Thomas released a statement (via People), saying, “We all grew up together and were close as a family. Today we truly lost our sister.” ”
Despite the fact that the pair were in pain, they felt compelled to finish the group’s fourth album, “3D”, which they abandoned six months after the accident in October. “We wanted to finish what the three of us started under that kind of pressure and pain,” Thomas told USA Today (via Biography) about their decision to get back in the recording studio.
Watkins and Thomas then continued as a duo and also released a fifth album titled “TLC” in June 2017. Today, the duo is still active as TLC and is currently performing on their “Hot Summer Nights” tour, which kicked off with Shaggy on June 1.