Chilli sent the media into a frenzy earlier this week when she was spotted on a beautiful beach in Hawaii with ‘Boy Meets World‘ star Matthew Lawrence.
Despite the assumptions that they were romantically involved, the rumors were put to rest by a spokesperson for Chilli who stated that the two were just good friends enjoying the some time on the Hawaiian beach.
“TLC had a show in Hawaii,” a rep for Chilli told E! News. “They’ve been touring all summer and are heading to Australia soon. Matthew and Chilli are friends and were taking a moment to get some sun after the show. They weren’t by themselves there was a group with them.”
TLC had just completed a very successful string of dates in Hawaii last week on August 5, 6 & 7 at the Blaisdell Arena along with boy band New Kids On The Block.
Judging from the excitement they caused with their sold out shows which were rescheduled from dates in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the girls will be very happy to return to Hawaii again soon. “We had a blast and cannot wait to come back!”, Chilli posted on social media to the Hawaiian radio station, The Keola Show.
TLC embarked on their long awaited UK & European Tour 2022 this week, which landed the ladies in a variety of locations for the first time in their 30 year career!
T-Boz and Chilli kicked off the tour in the Netherlands on June 21, followed by a show in Belgium on June 22. They then travelled to the UK to perform at the Glastonbury Festival on June 24, marking their debut at the iconic festival and was only the third time they have performed in the UK.
Their first ever UK show was at KOKO in London in 2017, followed by a headline set at the Mighty Hoopla festival in 2018. Of course, they would have performed their upcoming O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire concert in 2020, but Covid-19 forced the tour to be postponed for two years. The sold out show will now take place on June 28.
“Not only did TLC help invent contemporary R&B and become the best-selling girl group in US history but their lyrics also tackled HIV and sexual harassment”, Glastonbury posted in a statement announcing TLC on the West Holts stage.
TLC performed on the West Holts stage to a hungry crowd of more than 45,000 ready for a dose of top quality 90’s nostalgia from the biggest selling girl group in US history, with over 85 million records sold to date. After a phenomenal introduction by DJ Dubz and the talented band and dancers, TLC grace the stage opening with with debut single, 1992’s “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg”, with the raps of the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes kept intact.
They continued the set with more singles from their debut album, ‘Ooooooohhh… on the TLC tip“, and Chilli took a moment to tell the crowd, “We have wanted to play here for years and years! And finally we are here today”.
TLC then took us on a nostalgic trip to their 1994 sophomore album, ‘CrazySexyCool‘, with a silky performance of “Diggin’ On You” and then their first Billboard #1 single, “Creep”, complete with the infectious horns played by the sensational live band.
Later into the show, T-Boz shared a heartwarming story about her boyfriend who made her feel like she wasn’t good enough for him, which led her to write the 4th #1 TLC single, “Unpretty”, lifted from their 1999 album, ‘Fan Mail‘. “But don’t worry about it, I made sure I kicked his ass to the curb!”, T-Boz reassured the crowd who responded with a roar of cheers.
Chilli pulled the younger girls aside in the audience to have a chat with “Auntie Tee Tee and [Auntie] Chilli” about the do’s and don’t’s when it comes to finding a suitable man when they’re older. And insisted that they must never, ever, ever talk to a scrub! Which led to the pre-climax of the show, the ever-popular 1999 single, “No Scrubs”.
TLC closed the show with their 1995 anthem, “Waterfalls”, and dedicated it to their sister, Lisa. “This is Left Eye’s favorite song, so let’s do this for Lisa”, T-Boz tells the crowd before performing the song.
The Guardian stated that TLC’s crowd outnumbered many of the day’s Pyramid stage sets by far, and they are, undeniably, as important a “legacy” act as anyone playing on the Pyramid this weekend. If TLC were to play Glastonbury again in the future, the success of this show should let the promoter’s know that TLC are more than worth to headline, and to be on the Pyramid stage.
If you still need your live TLC fix before they complete their current tour, you can still catch them at the following dates:
28th June –O2 Shepherds Bush, London, UK 30th June – Roskilde, Denmark 2nd July – Lytham Festival, UK 3rd July – Love Supreme, UK
TLC Glastonbury 2022 Set List
‘Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg’ ‘What About Your Friends’ ‘Baby-Baby-Baby’ ‘Diggin’ On You’ ‘Creep’ ‘Silly Ho’ ‘Fan Mail’ ‘Unpretty’ ‘Red Light Special’ ‘No Scrubs’ ‘Waterfalls’
Reigndrop Lopes decided to celebrate the 51st birthday of her sister Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes on May 27 with a live Silent Auction, where fans were offered the opportunity to bid on a number of one-of-a-kind Left Eye items.
Exclusive items that you have the chance to own in the auction include a stunning custom Left Eye rug, custom and bespoke Left Eye sneakers, a back pack with Lisa’s items inside, a custom Left Eye hoodie, a Supernova LED music box, glow in the dark Left Eye candle set, dinner with the Lopes family and the chance to attend the Red Carpet private screening of the new Left Eye documentary produced by the Lopes family!
Custom Left Eye hoodieCustom Left Eye sneakers Left Eye rug
During the event Reigndrop was joined on stage by her brother Ron Lopes and Cemetery Tim, who created the new headstone for Lisa. Reigndrop also met Marqueze Ethridge for the first time and she was delighted to be informed that he co-wrote the TLC classic, “Waterfalls“.
Reigndrop hosted the event via Facebook and Instagram simultaneously whilst she jammed to a selection of TLC’s biggest hits, and was notably unimpressed at the album version of “No Scrubs” being played without Lisa’s iconic rap verse. The Facebook live stream became problematic with the use of copyrighted music being played, so Reigndrop switched it to music from Left Eye’s ‘Supernova‘ and happily told Facebook she owns this music, so they can’t shut her live feed down for using it.
Reigndrop Lopes with Cemetery Tim and Ron Lopes
Fans were delighted to learn that the ‘Supernova‘ album was on the verge of receiving it’s full worldwide release on streaming platforms after continuous demand from the fans. As we know, Lisa’s debut solo album received a limited release in Japan and the UK and was scrapped from receiving a US release.
“We’re working to release ‘Supernova’ to streaming on the date that she originally wanted her album to be released”, Reigndrop announced. “And if you’re a real fan you already know what the date is, so I don’t have to say it”. Although she added that “plans can change”, she was adamant that,”That date meant something to Lisa, so we’re going to stick to that”.
LED Supernova music box
Of course, the date Reigndrop was referring to was August 16th, which was the original date Lisa wanted her album to be released in 2001. Lisa was drawn to this date in particular for a special reason. “My father died on August 16th and his father was born on August 16th”, Lisa explained to MTV News. “And then on January 31st, was the day that [my father] was born and [his father] died. So, they came in and out of each others dates. It’s a very significant release date”.
Reigndrop was also excited to reveal that she is producing a brand new Left Eye documentary.
Energy Never Dies… Happy Birthday Lisa!
The Silent Auction will be live until June 3, 2022. Visit www.Lefteye20th.betterworld.org to place your bids and own a piece of Left Eye history!
TLC blessed fans in the UK on Easter Sunday (April 17, 2022) with an exclusive interview on the Global based radio station Capital XTRA Reloaded to celebrate the stations ‘Legend Sessions’ with a special spotlight on Ludacris and the legendary TLC!
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas took a trip down memory lane with Mike Panteli to discuss their fashion statements from the early 90’s and how they got started in the group, the biggest-selling US girl group ever, with over 85 million albums sold worldwide!
“I think it was a shock to everybody, especially the way Left Eye was sitting up there [in the “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” video] in that big bright hat in those bright colours”, T-Boz reminisces about their debut single setting new standards for female’s at that time. “I think we really grabbed people’s attention, with our sound, the look and the way we were dressed. I think we hit the scene at the perfect time, in the perfect way. I think we also made it posisble for people who already dressed that way to feel sexy and not feel like outcasts.”
TLC in 1992
Despite the music scene being heavily dominated by girl groups promoting ‘girl power’ in the late 90’s, Chilli reminds listeners that TLC were indeed the pioneers of girl power from the very beginning. “I think that people knew for sure that we were all about girl power”, Chilli reveals, “and just the way that we hit the scene in the way that we did opened the door for people like Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child“.
T-Boz and Chilli both spoke about their musical upbringing (they both grew up wanting to be stars, but not necessarily in a group), and say that one of the unique thing’s about TLC is how neither of them sound like each other, and they are like three solo artists packaged into one supergroup. “I can sing T-Boz’s parts, but I won’t sound like her”, Chilli laughs. “[T-Boz] can sing my parts, but she won’t sound like me, and we can both rap Lisa’s parts, but we won’t sound like her. So, each girl has her own thing that is so different”.
TLC stand out from the crowd not just because they sing memorable, catchy songs, but because of the unique lead vocals of T-Boz in her deep, raspy tone. “Jermaine Dupri did our first demo and I did background vocals singing deep for Kris Kross“, T-Boz reveals. “He already knew the swag, but what he did do was tell me that I should keep that as my style. He was like, ‘you have a different style, you should do that as your thing’. I sang deep for my audition for my manager at the time, Ian Burke, that’s how he knew I could sing deep”.
The success of TLC went from strength to strength after the debut album. Chilli said she was relieved that they didn’t suffer from the ‘sophomore jinx’ when they released their second album, ‘CrazySexyCool‘ in 1994, which went on to sell over 12 million copies in the US alone and solidified the ladies as a serious group with huge longevity.
“Once the music video to “Waterfalls” was released, that’s when we started really selling [album units]”, Chilli admits. “Because that message [in the music video], people could really relate to it”. Arista boss Clive Davis initially didn’t have faith in releasing “Waterfalls” as a single, but the ladies were able to convince L.A. Reid (TLC’s label boss and owner of LaFace, a subsidiary label to Arista) to take a chance on it and he agreed to commission the multi-million dollar music video, with ground-breaking special effects at the time it was made in 1995.
Panteli dug into the ladies musical archives to find out what their first records were that they bought in their younger days. T-Boz reveals that Michael Jackson‘s “Off The Wall” was her first purchase, whilst Chilli’s selection was more surprising. “The first record that I asked my mom for was Queen “Another One Bites The Dust”, Chilli reveals. ” I wore that thing out! It had scratches on it and everything. She bought me this little record player with psychedelic lights on top when you open it. That was my first record”.
The legendary Prince is another artist that TLC were proudly associated with. T-Boz explains how she was able to work on the cover of his iconic “If I Was Your Girlfriend“. “I was in a nightclub and Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs came up to me and said he has a record that he has for his group Total but he wanted me to have it instead. His producer Chucky Thompson [who recently passed away, Rest in Peace] got together to work on it, and then we finished it off with Dallas [Austin]”.
Prince is notoriously protective of his work and rarely allows permission for artists to cover his work. Howveer, that rule did not apply to TLC! Prince was a huge fan of TLC. “I was so excited”, T-Boz exclaims, “because Prince has been known to say no to everybody, and he said yes to two songs, “Get It Up” (for the Poetic Justice soundtrack) and “If I Was Your Girlfriend”. People still to this day ask us, how did we get Prince to say yes, it’s because he loves us, that’s why!”
TLC have previously stated that they would love to work with Cardi B and Bruno Mars, and that is still applicable to this day. “Right now, I’d still like to have Bruno Mars”, Chilli admits. “I love him. We both love him equally. He is just phenomenal, all across the board”.
So, what’s next in the pipeline for TLC? Well, they have previously teased the production of a Broadway musical, the process has since moved along and made some progress and is closer to becoming a reality. “I’m really excited about the musical”, T-Boz says. “Now, we’re working with a writer and [deciding] on how we want the stage performances to go”.
There is also a chance that there will be some brand new TLC music produced for the project. “I think that we’re going to do some new music for that, mixed with the old”, T-Boz reveals. “I think that it will be something really different and interesting. Even though we have told VH1 stories, behind the scenes, we have just finished an A&E documentary which features stories that we have never told before. We have 30 years of stories to tell, so, why not tell it on Broadway, you know?”.
TLC will arrive in the UK this June as part of their European 2022 tour! Their show in London is now sold out, so get tickets to rest of the tour while you still can!
Tickets available at Livenation.co.uk and Ticketmaster.co.uk
Catch the replay of the CapitalXTRA Reloaded TLC special HERE
Leon@TLCArmy
TLC-Army.com 