TLC

FashionDream · October 4, 2013

TLC

TLC is an American girl group whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally composed of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas the group found unprecedented success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats with the law, each other, and the group's record label.

Initially, TLC achieved commercial success following the release of their debut album Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip, which sold 6 million copies worldwide. However, it was their second album, CrazySexyCool, that catapulted the group to superstar status. CrazySexyCool went on to be certified diamond by the RIAA— a first for a female group, and eventually sold 23 million copies worldwide.^[4] Five years later, in 1999, the group released their third album FanMail, which became the group's first album to debut at number one and sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. The subsequent tour following FanMail's release became the highest grossing tour of all time by a female band. In 2002, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes died in a car accident in Honduras. Seven months later, T-Boz and Chilli released the group's fourth album 3D, which sold 2 million copies worldwide, scored the Top 40 hit Girl Talk and earned two Grammy Awards nominations, it featured unreleased vocals from Left Eye.

Billboard magazine ranked TLC as one of the greatest musical trios.^[5] Between 1992 and 2003, the band accumulated ten top ten singles, four number one singles, four multi-platinum albums, and five Grammy Awards. At the end of 1999, TLC was ranked as the seventh most successful act of the 1990s by Billboard. In 2008, the group was inducted into the All Time Hot 100 Artist Hall of Fame by the same magazine, at 56th place. That year it was also listed as the #25 R&B/hip-hop artist of the preceding 25 years.^[6] According to the RIAA, TLC has sold more than 23 million albums and 6.5 million singles in the United States alone.^[7] Worldwide they have sold more than 65 million records^[8] and they are ranked as the second best selling female group of all time, behind the Spice Girls.^[9] In 2012, TLC ranked 12th on VH1's 100 Greatest Women in Music, being ranked the number one all girl group on that list.^[10]