TLC Members: Looking Back at the ‘CrazySexyCool’ ’90s Girl Group
25 years later, we're still singing along to "No Scrubs"
The ’90s was a great time for girl groups, as stylish ladies like En Vogue, the Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child topped the charts and won over countless fans. One of the best-loved of these groups was TLC, who had an impressive run of number-one singles with “Creep,” “Waterfalls,” “No Scrubs” and “Unpretty.”
Formed in 1990, the TLC members became known for the way they brilliantly mixed elements of rap, pop and classic R&B into something fresh and modern. The trio also drew a lot of attention for their boldness. When their first album, Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip, came out in 1992, they even famously wore outfits embellished with condoms! As Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas said in an interview, “Our style was cartoonish but fly at the same time.”
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TLC were refreshingly unapologetic about their strength and sexuality, and “No Scrubs” remains one of the all-time great kiss-off anthems 25 years after it first hit the airwaves. But TLC weren’t just sassy — they could also get emotional, as on the timeless ballad “Waterfalls.”
The group’s two biggest albums, CrazySexCool (1994) and FanMail (1999) remain some of the all-time bestselling releases by a girl group, and they sound fresh as ever today. While the band weathered personal tragedy due to the untimely death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002, they still tour as a duo, and in 2017, they released their fifth album, TLC — their first without Left Eye. A 2023 documentary about the TLC members and their highs and lows, TLC Forever, is now streaming on Netflix.
Here’s a look back at the TLC members, in all their ’90s girl group glory.
Read on for more ’90s music!
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, TLC’s primary vocalist, released her debut solo single, “Touch Myself,” in 1996. She’s since released three more solo singles, “My Getaway” in 2000, “Champion” in 2013 and “Dreams” in 2017.
T-Boz is also an actress, and appeared in the cult-favorite 1998 film Belly. From 2016 to 2020, she played ex-convict Sheila Watkins in the long-running soap opera Days of Our Lives. She also had her own reality show, Totally T-Boz, in 2013.
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In 1999, T-Boz published a book of poetry, Thoughts. She released her memoir, Sick Life: TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage, in 2017.
Now 53, T-Boz has faced some difficult battles, as she’s struggled with sickle cell anemia since childhood. In 2009, she revealed that she had a brain tumor and underwent surgery to remove it. Thankfully, she’s currently in good health and has continued to perform.
She was married to the rapper Mack 10 from 2000 to 2004. They have a daughter and she adopted a son in 2016.
T-Boz is an entrepreneur in addition to being a singer. She co-owns a vegan burger restaurant, Good as Burgers, in Atlanta with her brother, and serves as their creative director. She also has a CBD wellness line, called (what else?) TLCBD.
T-Boz and Chilli are still going strong as TLC members today. In a 2023 Entertainment Weekly interview, she said, “I know our music would stand the test of time… I do believe if ‘No Scrubs’ or ‘Unpretty’ or ‘Creep’ came out tomorrow, they would be bumping on the radio just the same.” We can’t argue with that!
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was known for her rapping, which set TLC apart from other girl groups of the time.
In 2001, she released her debut solo album, Supernova. She collaborated with fellow female rappers Missy Elliott, Da Brat and Angie Martinez on a hit remix of the Lil’ Kim song “Not Tonight” in 1997 and with fellow girl group star Mel C of the Spice Girls on the 2000 song “Never Be the Same Again.” She also contributed rap verses to songs by NSYNC and Toni Braxton.
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Left Eye served as a musical mentor and producer for another girl group, Blaque, and she hosted the 1998 MTV series The Cut.
Left Eye dealt with much personal drama, and in 1994, she made headlines when she set her abusive boyfriend’s sneakers on fire in their bathtub, leading the entire house to go up in flames. She was arrested for arson and ultimately fined $10,000 and sentenced to probation. She also spent time in rehab for alcoholism.
Despite all this drama, Left Eye remained a creative force. Tragically, on a trip to Honduras, where she was volunteering with children in 2002, she got into a car accident and died at just 30 years old. In a statement at the time of her shocking passing, T-Boz and Chilli said, “We have truly lost our sister.” T-Boz said, “We’ll always be a group,” while Chilli added, “Lisa will never be replaced.”
In 2007, a documentary about her final days was released. A posthumous solo album of previously unreleased songs, Eye Legacy, came out in 2009. Her family started the Lisa Lopes Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping children in need, in her memory.
Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas
Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas is TLC’s secondary vocalist. She released her first solo single, “Dumb, Dumb, Dumb” in 2008, but like T-Boz, she never did a full solo album. She had another solo track, “Body,” in 2016.
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From 2010 to 2011, she had her own reality show, What Chilli Wants. She’s appeared in movies like Snow Day (2000), A Diva’s Christmas Carol (2000) and Ticker (2001). In 2017, she played the writer Zora Neale Hurston in Marshall. In 2019, she was part of the reality show Girls Cruise.
Now 53, Chilli has a son. She started a charity, Chilli’s Crew, dedicated to helping teen girls, and has supported causes including animal rights and stopping cyberbullying.
Chilli and T-Boz still play as TLC, and she has fond memories of her early days of girl group stardom, telling an interviewer, “When I got in the group, we just really clicked… It was just a natural chemistry that was there on day one. Then the love started growing, the friendship part of it started growing — us as sisters — all of that started growing. It was us against everyone else. We never had any type of jealousy toward each other at all.”
