39 Things You Didn't Know About TLC
They are the girl band that took over the world in the nineties and early noughties, but how much do you really know about Left Eye, Chilli and T-Boz?
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1. Chilli became pregnant at age 20.
The father was the groups producer Dallas Austin. On her show 'What Chilli Wants', Chilli revealed that she has an abortion and later regretted the decision. The couple later had a son together called Tron Austin. Picture: PA
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2. Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes's casket is engraved with her verse from hit TLC song 'Waterfalls'.
Picture: Getty
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3. At the 2002 MTV VMAs Chilli and T-Boz wore images of Left Eye on their dresses.
Picture: PA
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4. CrazySexyCool sold over 11 million copies in the US and worldwide sales exceed 15 million copies.
Picture: Getty
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5. Chilli appeared in two of Usher's music videos 'U Remind Me' and 'U Got It Bad'.
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6. Lisa Lopes had only a keyboard and $750 in her pocket when she moved to Atlanta to pursue music.
Picture: PA
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7. TLC reportedly held up Clive Davis at gunpoint to get the royalty money they thought they were owed.
Picture: Getty
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8. TLC's first national tour was as MC Hammer's opening act.
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9. Usher's record breaking 'Confessions' album was in fact not about Chilli.
"We were together when he recorded that album," the singer told BET 10 years after the album was released. "All of those songs on Confessions, that was about Jermaine Dupri's situation. Usher was just singing it. But people kind of bought into it, it was just the timing of our breakup when the album came out. So people assumed that album was about us, but it was not." picture: Getty
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10. Left Eye had a name, 'Nikki,' for the person she turned into when she drank.
In the 2002 VH1 documentary The Last Day of Left Eye, Left Eye admits to battling with alcoholism, revealing that she becomes a different person when she drinks — a person she refers to as “Nikki.” Picture: PA
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11. In 1994 Left Eye burnt down her boyfriend's mansion after a huge argument.
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12. She was charged with felony arson but released on $75,000 bail.
Picture: PA
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13. TLC went bankrupt shortly after releasing the album 'CrazySexyCool,' in the peak of their career.
Though CrazySexyCool sold 11 million copies in the U.S., making $75 million dollars for their record company, TLC's contracts only paid each of the members $50,000, an unfair portion of the profits the girls were making. Picture: PA
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14. Cee Lo Green sang on TLC's 'Waterfalls'.
TLC Cee Lo Green 'Waterfalls'
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15. TLC were originally named 2nd Nature.
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16. Left Eye was a heavy drinker since the age of fifteen.
Picture: PA
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17. TLC's Left Eye co-wrote and rapped on Spice Girl Mel C’s 'Never Be the Same Again.'
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18. The official statement released by Chilli and T-Boz after Left Eye died.
It read: “Lisa had one of the biggest hearts of anybody we’ve ever known. She did charity work with kids for the lupus disease. She adopted a little girl named Snow. … Lisa could do anything she put her mind to.”
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19. In Entertainment Weekly's 1999 issue Lisa challenged the girls to release solo albums.
Left Eye said: "I challenge Tionne Watkins (T-boz) and Rozonda Thomas (Chilli) to an album entitled The Challenge... a 3-CD set that contains three solo albums. Each (album)... will be due to the record label by October 1, 2000... I also challenge producer Dallas Austin to produce all of the material and do it at a fraction of his normal rate. As I think about it, I'm sure LaFace would not mind throwing in a $1.5 million prize for the winner."
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20. TLC recorded the theme song for Nickeloden’s All That.
Picture: PA
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21. TLC's 1994 album 'CrazySexyCool' was certified diamond by the RIAA, a first for a female group.
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22. In 1996, TLC brought their mums on stage when they won three Soul Train Awards.
The girls called their mums on to the stage from the audience, telling fans; "They're the reason we're here today."
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23. CrazySexyCool won Grammy Awards in 1996 for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Group.
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24. Lisa said the most important advice Tupac ever gave her was to be 100% real.
"He said if i was real with somebody and they couldn't accept it… Well it was better to be respected for being real than try to lie… I followed his advice and a lot of people can't accept people someone being 100% real, that's why i think people could not handle Tupac because he was about as real as they come."
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25. The 'C' in TLC originally stood for Crystal Jones, the group's founding member.
Chilli replaced Crystal Jones before they made it big, and was given the name Chilli so the group could retain the name TLC. Picture: Getty
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26. TLC never felt threatened when Destiny's Child first came on the scene.
Left Eye once said of the group in an interview; "It seems like there are some influences from TLC as far as styling is concerned. There's definitely room for two of us… And about 10 more" Picture: Getty
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27. Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes died in a car crash while filming a documentary.
The singer sadly passed away whilst filming for a documentary in Honduras, which would later be released as The Last Days of Left Eye in 2007 on VH1.
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28. Future Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Kandie Burruss wrote “No Scrubs.”
Kandie Burruss wrote 'No Scrubs' alongside Kevin Briggs and Tameka Cottle. It was Burruss who came up with the now-famous 'Scrubs' term. She also went on to write Destiny's Child's 'Bills Bills Bills.;
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29. TLC wrote 'Waterfalls' to show support for AIDS victims.
"His health is fading and he doesn't know why/ Three letters took him to his final resting place"
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30. Chilli went on an episode of Sally to find her father.
Sally Jessy Raphael and her team spent 6 months searching for Chilli's father who she never knew. Chilli met her father and a sister and two brothers she never knew she had.
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31. At the 2012 MOBOS TLC were honored for their outstanding contribution to music.
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32. The first single the girls released after Lopez' death was called 'Girl Talk'.
In the video Lopes appears animated and at the end of the video it reads her name. Picture: Getty
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33. 'No Scrubs' stayed in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for 24 consecutive weeks.
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34. Between 1990 and 2002 TLC had 10 top 10 singles, four no.1 singles & four multi-platinum albums.