Lisa Lopes

 ( 1971 Births ) 

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, and the two soon moved in together in Rison's upscale double-story home. Their relationship was allegedly filled with violent moments, and 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 and lit them on fire. The fiberglass bathtub quickly melted and set the structural frame of the house on fire. Lopes and 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 and 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 and indicted on charges of first-degree arson; she was sentenced to five years of probation and a $10,000 fine. Rison eventually reconciled with Lopes, and they continued dating on and 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 and 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 and Meshell Ndegeocello. In 1997, Lopes was featured on the remix to Lil' Kim's "Not Tonight", alongside Missy Elliott, Angie Martinez and 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 and sold over 14 million copies worldwide. The album's title was named by Lopes as a tribute to TLC's loyal fans and the sleeve contained the names of hundreds of fans screen names as a "thank you".

During and 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-Musical notation raps, and 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 and the music that is supposed to represent me."

Lopes was sentenced to five years' probation and therapy at a halfway house, and was unable to shake the incident from her reputation. Lopes revealed in The Last Days of Left Eye that her meeting with a struggling mother in rehab left a big impression on her. She subsequently adopted the woman's 8-year-old daughter. She had adopted a 12-year-old boy ten years prior. TLC time for Lisa Lopes Tour Dates. Retrieved April 29, 2009.

Lopes had several tattoos. Most prominent was a large eagle on her left arm, which she said represented freedom. Later, she added the number "80" around the eagle, which was Rison's NFL number while in Atlanta. She also had a tattoo of a moon with a face on her foot in reference to Rison's nickname, "Bad Moon". On her upper right arm was a large tattoo of the name "Parron" for her late stepbrother who died in a boating accident, arching over a large tattoo of a pierced heart. Her smallest tattoo was on her left earlobe and consisted of an arrow pointing to her left over the symbol of an eye, a reference to her nickname. Lopes struggled with self-harm and even carved the words "hate" and "love" into her arm with a razor.

In September 2000, Lopes was reported missing after failing to attend a family gathering and a major press conference in Las Vegas.

Roughly two weeks before her own death, Lopes was a passenger in a traffic accident that resulted in the death of a 10-year-old Honduran boy. As reported in Philadelphia Weekly, "It is commonplace for people to walk the roads that wind through Honduras, and it's often difficult to see pedestrians." The boy, Bayron Isaul Fuentes Lopez, was following behind his brothers and sisters when he stepped off the median strip and was struck by a van driven by Stephanie, Lopes' personal assistant. Lopes' party stopped and loaded the boy into the car, and Lopes "cradled the dying boy's bleeding head in her arms" while "someone gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as they rushed him to a nearby hospital." He died the next day. Lopes paid approximately $3,700 for his medical expenses and funeral, and she gave the family around $925 for any extra costs, although it was apparently agreed upon by the authorities and the boy's family that his death was an "unforeseeable tragedy" and no blame was placed on the driver of the van or Lopes. In the documentary The Last Days of Left Eye, Lopes is shown choosing a casket for the child from a local funeral home. Earlier in the documentary, Lopes mentioned that she felt the presence of a "spirit" following her, and was struck by the fact that the child killed in the accident shared a similar last name, even thinking that the spirit may have made a mistake by taking his life instead of hers.