Left Eye.
Lisa Nicole Lopes, May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002, Better known by her stage name Left Eye, Was an American rapper & singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne, T-Boz Watkins & Rozonda, Chilli Thomas. Besides rapping & singing on TLC recordings,
Left Eye was the creative force behind the group, receiving more co-writing credits than the other members. She also designed some of their outfits & the stage for their FanMail Tour & contributed to the group’s image, Album titles, Artworks, & music videos. Through her work with TLC, Left Eye won four Grammy Awards.
During her brief solo career, Left Eye scored two US top 10 singles with, Not Tonight & U Know What’s Up, as well as one UK number-one single with Never Be the Same Again, the latter a collaboration with Melanie C of the English girl group Spice Girls. She also produced another girl group, Blaque, who scored a platinum album & two US top 10 hits. Left Eye remains the only member of TLC to have released a solo album.
On April 25, 2002, Lopes was killed in a car accident in Roma, Jutiapa, Honduras, While volunteering at a children’s development center. Left Eye was speeding & lost control of her rental SUV. Four other passengers were injured enough to require hospitalization. The documentary The Last Days of Left Eye was released & aired on VH1 in May 2007.
Lisa Nicole Lopes was born on May 27, 1971, In Philadelphia, The daughter of LaWanda (née Andino), A seamstress, & Ronald Lopes Sr. A US Army staff sergeant. Lisa has a younger brother, Ronald Jr., & a younger sister, Rain (nicknamed Reigndrop). Lopes said her father was Very strict, Very domineering, & that he treated the family like they were in, Boot Camp. He was also a, Talented musician, Who played the harmonica, Clarinet, Piano, & saxophone. Lopes’ parents separated when she was still in school, & her paternal grandmother raised her during the later years of her childhood. She began playing with a toy piano at five years old, & later composed her own songs. By age 10, Lopes formed the musical trio The Lopes Kids with her siblings, with whom she performed gospel songs at local events & churches. She attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls. In an interview with The Independent, Lopes said that at 14 she was moved after hearing the Queen Latifah & Monie Love song, Ladies First.
TLC. 1990 to 1999. In late 1990, Lopes moved to Atlanta to dance in an artist’s music video. TLC originally started as a female trio called, 2nd Nature, with T-Boz, Left Eye & Crystal. The group was renamed TLC, derived from the first initials of its members at the time. Tionne Watkins, Lisa Lopes & Crystal Jones. Things did not work out with Jones, & TLC’s manager Perri, Pebbles, Reid brought in Damian Dame backup dancer Rozonda Thomas as a third member of the group. To preserve the band’s original name, Thomas needed a name starting with C, which is how she became, Chilli, A name chosen by Lopes. Watkins became T-Boz, Derived from the first letter of her first name &, Boz, Slang for Boss. Lopes was renamed, Left Eye after a compliment from her friend, Speculated to be New Edition member Michael Bivins, Who once told her he was attracted to her because of her left eye, Which was more slanted than her right eye. Lopes emphasized her nickname by wearing a pair of glasses with the right lens covered by a condom in keeping with the group’s support of safe sex, Wearing a black stripe under her left eye, & eventually getting her left eyebrow pierced.
The group debuted in 1992 with the album Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip. With four hit singles, It sold six million copies worldwide, Leading to the group becoming a household name.
Shortly afterwards, Lopes began dating Atlanta Falcons football player Andre Rison, & the two soon moved in together in Rison’s upscale double story home. Their relationship was allegedly filled with violent moments, & Lopes filed an assault charge against Rison on September 2, 1993. Lopes had a battle with alcohol at the time, having started drinking at the age of fifteen. After another fight between the couple, in the early morning hours of June 9, 1994, Lopes tossed numerous pairs of Rison’s newly purchased sneakers into a bathtub & lit them on fire. The fiberglass bathtub quickly melted & set the structural frame of the house on fire. Lopes & Rison had had a fight previously because she caught Rison in bed with another woman. Lopes had thrown numerous teddy bears Rison had bought her into the tub & lit them on fire. Rison then had the damaged marble tub replaced with a cheaper fiberglass model, Which went up in flames immediately when she set the shoes on fire. Lopes was arrested & indicted on charges of first-degree arson, She was sentenced to five years of probation & a $10,000 fine. Rison eventually reconciled with Lopes, & they continued dating on & off for seven years.
Shortly after, CrazySexyCool was released, Selling over 23 million copies worldwide. However, Lopes’ stint in rehab had led to her only having limited input in the writing & recording of the album. After the release of CrazySexyCool, Lopes was a featured artist for the first time on, How Do You Like It?, A song by Keith Sweat in 1994. Later in 1995, Lopes recorded a well received verse to the rap version of, Freedom,
Of the soundtrack from the Black Panther based docudrama Panther with fellow female hip hop artists such as Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Patra, Yo-Yo, Salt ‘n’ Pepa & Meshell Ndegeocello. In 1997, Lopes was featured on the remix to Lil’ Kim’s, Not Tonight, Alongside Missy Elliott, Angie Martinez & Da Brat. The single earned all artists a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 1998 Grammy Awards. TLC’s third album, FanMail, Was released in 1999 & sold over 14 million copies worldwide. The album’s title was named by Lopes as a tribute to TLC’s loyal fans & the sleeve contained the names of hundreds of fans screen names as a, Thank You.
During & after the release of FanMail, Lopes made it known to the press on multiple occasions that she felt that she was unable to express herself in TLC fully. Her contributions to songs had been reduced to periodic eight bar raps, & there were several songs in which she had no vocals. Studio session singers such as Debra Killings often sang background vocals for Chilli. In the May 1999 issue of Vibe magazine, Lopes said, “I’ve graduated from this era. I cannot stand 100 percent behind this TLC project & the music that is supposed to represent me.” In response to Lopes’ comments, Watkins & Thomas stated to Entertainment Weekly that Lopes “doesn’t respect the whole group” & “Left Eye is only concerned with Left Eye.” In response, Lopes sent a reply through Entertainment Weekly issuing a “challenge” to Watkins & Thomas to release solo albums & let the fans decide the winner of TLC. Not only would it be entertaining, but more importantly, The three albums would fulfill their contractual obligations & end their deal with LaFace Records.
I challenge Tionne Watkins T-Boz, & 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 Dallas, The Manipulator, Austin to produce all of the material & 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. Watkins & Thomas were unconvinced by the strategy behind, The Challenge, & declined to take up the offer, Though Lopes remained firm in her support for the idea. Things were heated between the band for some time, With Thomas speaking out against Lopes, Calling her antics, Selfish, Evil, & Heartless. TLC then addressed these struggles by saying that they are very much like sisters who have their disagreements every now & then as Lopes explained, It’s deeper than a working relationship. We have feelings for each other, which is why we get so mad at each other. I usually say that you cannot hate someone unless you love them. So, we love each other. That’s the problem.
