Actors - TLC

	Actors - TLC

TLC is a very successful R&B and hip-hop group that was formed in 1991. Originally called 2nd Nature, the group was founded in Atlanta, Georgia by Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Crystal Jones. Before signing to LaFace Records through a production deal with R&B singer Peri "Pebbles" Reid, the group's name was changed to "TLC", and Crystal Jones was replaced by Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas.

One of the biggest selling female groups of all time, TLC has sold approximately 45 million albums and singles worldwide as of November 2005. Their second album, 1994's CrazySexyCool, was one of the first albums to be awarded diamond certification by the RIAA for over 10 million copies sold. However, the group was just as noted for its controversy as it was for its music and success.

History

2nd Nature

In 1991, Atlanta teenager Crystal Jones put out a call for two more girls to join her in a hip-hop/R&B group to be called "2nd Nature". Her request was eventually answered by Tionne Watkins, a native of Des Moines, Iowa who moved to Atlanta with her family at an early age, and Lisa Lopes, a rapper and singer who had just moved to the city from her native Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with only a keyboard and $750. 2nd Nature eventually managed to arrange an audition with R&B singer Peri Reid, professionally known as "Pebbles", who had started her own management and production company, Pebbitone. Impressed by the girls, Pebbles renamed the group "TLC" and arranged an audition for the group with local record label LaFace Records, run by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Pebbles' husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid. L.A. Reid was impressed with Watkins and Lopes, but felt that Jones should be replaced; within a few months, former Damian Dame backup dancer Rozonda Thomas was brought in to replace Jones. The girls were signed to LaFace through a production deal with Pebbitone (with Pebbles taking the role of the group's manager), and almost immediately went into the studio with producers L.A. Reid & Babyface, Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and Marley Marl to produce their first album.

Besides being an acronym for "tender loving care", the name "TLC" was based upon the first names of the original members of the group: Tionne, Lisa, and Crystal. Therefore, when Thomas joined, the girls were given nicknames: Watkins became "T-Boz", Lopes "Left-Eye", and Thomas "Chilli". These nicknames would later be explained as follows: "T-Boz" because "Tionne is the boss," "Left Eye" because "the eye is right," and "Chilli" because "Rozonda brings the sauce."

Ooooooohhh.... On the TLC Tip (1992)

The first TLC album, Ooooooohhh.... On the TLC Tip, was released in February 1992 by LaFace. The songs on the album were a blend between hip-hop and R&B, similar to the "new jack swing" sound popularized by producer Teddy Riley in the late-1980s; TLC's sound was dubbed "new jill swing". The album was a success, going double-platinum in a year's time and launching a number of US Billboard Top Ten singles: "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" (#6), "Hat 2 Da Back" (#30), "What About your Friends" (#7), and "Baby-Baby-Baby" (#2).

TLC's lyrics, chiefly written by Left-Eye and Dallas Austin, were playful, female-empowering anthems characterized by Left-Eye's quirky, nasal-toned raps, T-Boz's low-voiced lead vocals, and Chilli's powerful vocals and harmonization. The musical formula was augmented by the girls' brightly-colored videos and curious costuming: each girl wore unwrapped condoms on their clothing (Left-Eye also wore one in a pair of glasses over her left eye), thus openly advocating safe sex.

During TLC's first national tour as MC Hammer's opening act, Left Eye and Chilli discovered that T-Boz had sickle-cell disease, an aliment which she kept a closely-guarded secret until she became ill while TLC was touring the southwestern United States. T-Boz would continue to battle her condition, and eventually became a spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America in the late 1990s.

At the conclusion of the tour, TLC decided to take more control of their careers and thus informed Pebbles that they no longer wished her to be their manager. Pebbles released the group from its management deal, but they remained signed to Pebbitone, and Pebbles continued to receive a share of their earnings.

In 1993, TLC played the musical group "Sex as a Weapon" in the New Line Cinema feature film House Party 3, starring Kid 'n Play.

CrazySexyCool (1994)

Left-Eye had started dating Atlanta Falcons American football player Andre Rison shortly after the release of Ooooooohhh.... On the TLC Tip, and by 1994 the two were living together in Rison's upscale double-story home. Their relationship was allegedly filled with violent moments, and Left-Eye filed an assault charge against Rison on September 2, 1993, although Rison later denied battering her. Left-Eye was also battling alcoholism, having been a heavy drinker since her early teen years. After another fight between Left-Eye and Rison in the early morning hours of June 9, 1994, Left-Eye, tipsy from alcohol, tossed numerous pairs of Rison's newly purchased sneakers into a bathtub, doused them with gasoline, and lit them on fire. The Plexiglas bathtub quickly melted and set the structural frame of the house on fire. Although firefighters were called to the scene, the house could not be saved due to the toxic fumes from the gasoline. Left-Eye was eventually arrested for and indicted on charges of first-degree arson; she was sentenced to five years of probation and required to enter alcoholism rehabilitation. Rison eventually reconciled with Left-Eye, and they continued dating on-and-off for most of the next few years.

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Actors - TLC

History

2nd Nature

Ooooooohhh.... On the TLC Tip (1992)

CrazySexyCool (1994)

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