Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas formed TLC (from the initials of their nicknames) at the behest of Perri "Pebbles" Reid, a 1980's recording star and wife of a LaFace Records executive. After recording Sleigh Ride for Home Alone 2 and appearing on the Arsenio Show, TLC literally burst onto the music scene in 1992 with their debut album, Ooooooh..On the TLC Tip, a unique blend of styles combining core R&B and hip-hop with a touch of '80's funk and rap. They represented strong role models in a musical genre that for the most part had been male-dominated.

Its follow-up, "CrazySexyCool," won the group both accolades and Grammys, including best R&B album of 1996. This second album showed a maturing musical style that was significantly different than "Tip." The video Waterfalls, a ballad from the album, was a major crossover hit that brought the group to mainstream fans.

Unfortunately, by the time of the release of CrazySexyCool, the group had serious personal problems. They filed bankruptcy individually and records presented to the court showed that they had received less than 2 percent of the 175 million dollars "On The TLC Tip" had grossed in three years. Lopes was considered volatile, and had serious personal problems and problems with the just about everybody related to TLC. She was arrested for various offenses in the Atlanta area, "accidentally" burned the home of boyfriend Andre Rison and had to undergo alcohol rehabilitation. T-Boz Watkins also had personal problems - of a vastly different nature than the self-inflicted pain created by Lopes. She revealed she suffered from sickle-cell anemia.

By the time of the release of FanMail, the group was in disarray. A tour during 1999 and 2000 only increased the negative press, and Lopes began to record solo. She did not attend the marriage of T-Boz to gangsta rapper Mack 10, began her own production label, signed individually with another record company, and made negative comments about the group to Vibe. Suddenly, things appeared to straighten out when the group performed on Soul Train's 2001 Christmas show. Five months later Lopes died in a car crash in the Honduras. The group was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2002