TLC Biography

The American girl group known as TLC was established in the early 1990’s, by Tionne Watkins, Lisa Lopes, and Rozonda Thomas. Drawing from their nick-names in naming their group (“T-Boz,” “Left Eye,” and “Chilli,” respectively), the trio signed with LaFace/Arista Records and burst onto the music scene with their debut album, Oooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip, in 1992.

The album was an enormous success, rising into the top five on the R&B/hip-hop charts and into the top twenty on the mainstream charts in the United States. The album spawned the top five hits “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg,” “Baby-Baby-Baby,” and “What About Your Friends.” But it was TLC’s sophomore effort, the album CrazySexyCool, that became an even bigger breakthrough for the band, rising into the top five internationally and spawning the mega-hits: “Creep,” “Red Light Special,” “Waterfalls,” “Unpretty,” and “No Scrubs.” The year 1993 saw TLC nominated for three American Music Awards (for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist, Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist, and Rap/Hip-Hop Artist) and won Grammy Awards for both Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, for “No Scrubs.”

TLC followed their tremendous success with the albums FanMail (1999), and 3D (2002), but then tragedy struck with the untimely loss of Lopes in a car crash. TLC embarked on a lengthy hiatus, going dark for nearly a decade. Periodically, Watkins and Thomas would perform together for special occasions, often in collaboration with a third artist or another group, but it wasn’t until 2015 that TLC fully announced its intention to come back as a duo.

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for their comeback album, TLC participated in the Main Event Tour, hitting the road to perform alongside Nelly and New Kids on the Block. They followed this endeavor with their own headlining tour, the TLC 2016-2017 Tour. Most recently, TLC released their first album in over a decade, TLC, featuring the single “Way Back” (with Snoop Dog.) Fans are delighted to have Thomas and Watkins re-appear as TLC, and it is the hope that the duo will continue to perform and record going forward in the years to come.