In 1990, Ian Burke and Crystal Jones came up with the concept of an all female version of Bell Biv Devoe with a tomboyish, contemporary R&B look and sound. They began searching for two more girls to join Crystal, which led to Tionne Watkins and Lisa Lopes auditioning, and they named themselves 2nd Nature. They were eventually able to audition for Perri “Pebbles” Reid, where they were renamed TLC, an acronym for their names.

Reid was able to arrange an audition with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, who loved the idea of Tionne and Lopes staying in the group, but didn’t feel jones should remain. Rozonda Thomas came along in 1991, after being discovered as a background dancer.

To avoid a name change, Tionne became ‘T-Boz’, Lisa became ‘Left-Eye’, and Rozonda became ‘Chili’. They immediately signed a recording contract with Laface and began recording their first album.

Their first album Ooooooohhh..On the TLC Tip, was released on February 25, 1992. This album contained elements of funk, hip-hop, and R&B. With songs like Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg, Baby-Baby-Baby, and What About Your Friends,  the album went quadruple platinum, selling over 4 million copies. As branding and awareness, the ladies wore bright colors and condoms on their clothes, and Lisa wore one on her left-eye.

They began touring and traveling to major cities as MC Hammer’s opening act. Although they had overwhelming success, they had not seen much money coming straight to them. 

Their second album, CrazySexyCool, was release on November 15, 1994 and featured hits like Waterfalls, Creep, and Diggin’ On You. This album did not disappoint, containing two #1 songs and selling over 23 million copies. Despite the success, they still had not seen the money to match it and had to file bankruptcies. 

Their third album, Fanmail, was released in February 1999, containing No Scrubs, Unpretty, and Silly Ho. Once again, this album was a great success selling over 14 million copies. During and after the release of Fanmail, Left-Eye made it clear that she wasn’t happy and felt confined to the image of TLC.

While Lisa Lopes was recording her second solo album, she passed away in a car crash in Honduras on April 25, 2002. She had been filming a tv special with MTV that would later be released as The Last Days of Left-Eye in 2007.

T-Boz and Chili would go on to release their fourth and final album featuring vocals from Lisa Lopes, to commemorate her.

In the following years, they appeared on television and singles with artists such as J Cole’s Crooked Smile.

On October 21 2013, they released a biographical film titled CrazySexyCool, showcasing their rise to fame, relationships and behind the scenes interactions.