TLC has been announced as one of the exclusive guest performers at the season 21 finale of ‘American Idol‘ this year.
The three-hour finale episode is set to air live from coast to coast starting at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 21.
TLC at ‘American Idol’ in 2011
‘American Idol’ judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan will also be taking the stage on finale night with each performing a song on stage. This season’s Top 12 contestants will also be returning to the Idol stage.
Katy Perry is a huge fan of TLC. She was one of the top contributors to the Kickstarter campaign back in 2015 and bagged herself a slumber party with the girls! They eventually caught up with each other at the KAABOO festival in 2018.
Katy Perry with TLC and Jewel in 2018
TLC were last invited as special guests on the show back in 2011, when the ladies took to the stage to perform a medley of their hits, “No Scrubs” and “Waterfalls“, and were joined by the Top 13 girls in the competition to help them perform on the latter song. They also opened the show with a first time performance of their 2003 hit, “Come Get Some“, featuring Lil’ Jon.
Other performers announced for the Season 21 finale include Season 2 stars Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, Ellie Goulding, James Blunt, Jazmine Sullivan, Jelly Roll, Kylie Minogue, Lainey Wilson, Lauren Daigle, Pitbull, and more.
Will you be tuning in to watch TLC on ‘American Idol’?
TLC are almost ready to launch their upcoming “Hot Summer Nights” tour next month along with Shaggy, En Vogue and Sean Kingston, which coincides with the premiere of their new documentary, “TLC Forever“, which airs simultaneously on both Lifetime and A&E on June 3 at 8/7c.
T-Boz and Chilli have been doing the promotional rounds this week to promote their show and tour. Whilst speaking to Entertainment Weekly, they announced that they have something brewing on Broadway, as well as a fictional series centered around their music and a pilot for an upcoming reality show in the works.
This will be the first time TLC have featured in a reality show together since 2005, when they starred in UPN’s “R U The Girl“, a reality contest show which followed T-Boz and Chilli on a nationwide road trip to find one special girl to perform and record a new song with them, called “I Bet“. The show also gave us lots of hilarious moments of the duo and the iconic chemistry that they have together.
Chilli went on to feature in her own reality show, VH1’s “What Chilli Wants“, in 2010 which ran for two seasons. She also starred in “Girls Cruise” in 2018 with Lil’ Kim and Mya. T-Boz starred in her own reality show, “Totally T-Boz” on the channel TLC in 2013.
According to EW, “TLC Forever” will document the group’s rise to stardom, the friction that they encountered and how T-Boz and Chilli were able to pick up the pieces after tragically losing the beloved Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002. The show will also reveal the group in rehearsals as they prepared to perform at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival.
“You get to see our raw reaction,” says T-Boz, who captured several of the clips on a camcorder she carried around while TLC travelled the world throughout their 20s. “When I did that, I didn’t realize it would be worth so much to us later on. I’m real thankful we got that footage, all of the great times we had together. To be able to watch it so many years later is such a blessing.”
TLC believe that if they were new artists today in the age of streaming, their music would still be as relevant as it is now. “I don’t know about sales, but I know our music would stand the test of time,” says T-Boz. “I do believe if ‘No Scrubs’ or ‘Unpretty’ or ‘Creep’ came out tomorrow, they would be bumping on the radio just the same.”
The ladies are also very proud of the fact that despite their highs and lows, they never disbanded or replaced members. “No matter what happened, we never broke up,” says Chilli. “I mean, we’re gonna be in this group until we’re not here anymore. And the greatest thing of all is that we still want to do this together. I would not want to do this with any other person.”
TLC also had a fun interview with Xfinity, where amongst discussions about fashion trends and their growth, they reveal which Left Eye verse was their favorite and show the world they also have bars like their TLC sister.
“It was fun going back down memory lane, reminiscing about all the times that we’ve shared together, especially with Lisa”, says T-Boz. “And times that we haven’t forgotten, but they’re just not on your mind at that moment. So yeah, a lot of great memories”, adds Chilli.
T-Boz and Chilli unamously agree that the rap that they would sing if they switched roles for a day would be one of Left Eye’s raps in “Hat 2 Da Back“. After singing the verse together in perfect harmony, T-Boz exclaims, “yeah, we can rap too!” Despite the iconic status of their records, TLC insist that they do not listen to their own music when they’re not at work.
“We don’t even bump it in the car at home”, reveals T-Boz. “We practice [for concerts] 6 to 8 hours a day, 5 days a week — that’s a lot”. Chilli agrees, adding, “In rehearsals, we practice 8 hours a day, it’s a real job, listening to her voice, my voice — play something else, please!”
Tickets to TLC’s “Hot Summer Nights” tour are on sale now!
Tune in to watch “TLC Forever” on Lifetime/A&E on June 3 at 7/8c
The beautiful Chilli was honored to accept the Variety 2023 Power of Women Legacy Award on behalf of TLC on April 4, 2023 in New York.
Her TLC sister, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins was unable to attend the event due to sinus infection she was still recovering from. Chilli joked that they do not like to share one award, so hopes the event provides them each with the prestigious award.
Chilli started off her acceptance speech for TLC’s Legacy Award by giving thanks to God for her talents. “When I say that he has been there for us — and still is — I’m just so thankful to him”, Chilli said. “You always want to be sure you’re doing what’s right — and we always should — but I just want to make sure that I’m being a good daughter to my Lord and Savior, that’s very important to me”.
Chilli then got emotional as she recalled some of the group’s hardest moments and their biggest triumphs as women of color in the music industry.
“When you are a woman of color, it’s real hard — it’s a huge struggle,” she told the audience. “I’ll always remember when ‘No Scrubs’ came out and it was actually our first number one entering in. I always wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine…we didn’t get the cover. I won’t say who got it, it’s okay because he deserved it too but we also did. The message was ‘the last time we had someone Black on the cover, it didn’t really sell well.’” To clarify, the Rolling Stones cover went to Eminem that month.
She continued, “I have to say that just because you hear many ‘no’s’ does not mean that you don’t have the talent because you do — we never stopped believing in ourselves and each other.”
Chilli took a moment to give TLC’s long-term manager, Bill Diggins, his flowers for sticking around with the ladies through their highs and lows, since the loss of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002. “Bill Diggins believed in us when we were on top of the world. And when everything happened — losing our sister — and no one believing in us anymore, thinking that it was over…he never felt like that, ever”, Chilli reveals.
Chilli vowed to “forever keep our sister Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes’ memory alive through everything that we do.” Whilst addressing the rumors that the group had been on the lookout for a replacement after their reality talent show, UPN’s ‘R U The Girl‘ in 2005, Chilli joked, “We never ever even thought about replacing her — even after she burned the house down…by the way it was an accident!”
Paramount+ announced via press release on April 4, 2023 that the new music docuseries ‘Family Legacy‘ will premiere Tuesday, April 25 exclusively on the service in the U.S. and Canada.
The series will also premiere internationally on Wednesday, April 26 in the U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, LATAM and Brazil, and on Saturday, April 29 in Australia. An official trailer and key art for the series were also released.
Narrated by actor and music artist Quincy Brown, each half hour of the five-episode series will feature the children of legendary music artists and bands including Linkin Park, Van Halen, Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Boyz II Men, TLC, Biggie Smalls, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Brandy and Melissa Etheridge reliving some of entertainment’s most iconic moments and giving viewers an intimate look at their favorite artists.
Featured in the series are:
Tron Austin (son of TLC’s Chilli)
Bailey Cypheridge (daughter of Melissa Etheridge)
Baylee Littrell (son of Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell)
Briahna Fatone (daughter of *NSYNC’s Joey Fatone)
Christian “King” Combs (son of Sean “Diddy” Combs)
C.J. Wallace (son of Notorious B.I.G.)
Draven Bennington (son of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington)
Justin Combs (son of Sean “Diddy” Combs)
Nathan Morris II (son of Boyz II Men’s Nathan Morris)
Quincy Brown (son of Sean “Diddy” Combs)
Sy’Rai Smith (daughter of Brandy)
Andrew Hagar (son of Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar)
Through thousands of hours of exclusive MTV footage and brand-new interviews with the children of our favorite stars, ‘Family Legacy’ takes fans on a tour of iconic musicians’ most celebrated moments, with perspectives and untold stories only their kids could provide!
‘Family Legacy’ is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, with Bruce Gillmer and Jeremy Davies as executive producers. Nancy Glass, Eric Neuhaus and Lauren Flowers serve as executive producers for Glass Entertainment Group.
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