TLC revealed exclusively during a recent panel they were part of at ‘90s Con on Sunday (Sept 17) that the TLC musical that they have been working on will be a collaboration with the team behind the ground breaking Hamilton musical!
“We’re working on a Broadway play”, T-Boz stated when asked what plans TLC have in the works in the future. “The cool thing, we do have a lot of people that worked on Hamilton working with us for ours“, Chilli adds to the exciting announcement.
“I wanna audition!”, Joey Fatone of *NSYNC jokes after the initial announcement. Joey participated in the panel alongside TLC and Backstreet Boys’ Howie Dorough and AJ McLean.
TLC on the 90s Con music panel
The ladies were tight-lipped about any further details about their musical or which members of the Hamilton team they have been working with. However, T-Boz assured the crowd at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida that the musical would indeed come with some brand new TLC music.
“That means we’ll have new music for the play”, T-Boz confirms to the excited crowd who cheered and applauded the news.
To round off the announcement, T-Boz quickly adds, “And we’ll have a new TV show, which we can’t talk about [yet]”.
The Hamilton Broadway musical is a sung-and-rapped-through biographical musical with music, lyrics, and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Composed over a seven-year period from 2008 to 2015, the music draws heavily from hip-hop, as well as R&B, pop, soul, and traditional-style show tunes.
Scene from the ‘Hamilton’ musical
TLC first revealed details of their plans to produce a TLC musical back in 2019 whilst promoting their ‘Whole Lotta Hits’ tour with Nelly and Flo Rida. “We didn’t tell everything. I mean, we have so many stories to tell that we didn’t tell in our biopic on VH1. But it’s a lot of stuff, a lot of good stuff”, Chilli said.
“It’s going to be very emotional, but like a good ride. I’m very excited about it. I almost can’t believe it!”
Are you looking forward to the upcoming TLC musical, music and TV show?
MTV gave TLC the animated treatment last week (Sept 6) via their Video Music Awards social media, as they recreated the iconic performance of “No Scrubs” in 1999.
MTV hired the services of animation creator’s Cartuna and LotusFly Animation, who jointly collaborated on the project to produce a 3D animation mash-up of the “No Scrubs” video along with the original audio and costumes from the performance at the VMA’s!
They added a little twist by including elements of some of the most nostalgic MTV dating shows of the past, including ‘Room Raiders‘ and ‘Singled Out‘, which aid T-Boz, Chilli and Left Eye in their decisions to ditch the guys that were no good for them, as they sit on judging panel chairs reminiscent to ‘The Voice’!
TLC are a huge part of MTV and VMA history, having dominated the 1995 award show with 4 major wins including Video Of The Year, a first for a black artist at the time, trumping some major competition from Michael and Janet Jackson!
They went on to add a 5th award to their accolades in 1999, when they took home the award for Best Group, beating stiff competition from megaselling groups such as *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys!
TLC at the MTV 1995 VMA’s
It was hoped that the animation was a sign that TLC was hopefully going to be involved in the 2023 VMA’s (Sept 13) in some form, but that was not the case, unfortunately. Instead, legendary awards were presented to Diddy and Shakira this year.
So, it was unclear what the new TLC animation was commissioned for. The clip baffled TLC member Chilli, who commented, “What in the heck is this?” on the post. It might help if MTV informed the artists prior to including them in their work.
TLC most definitely deserve an honary award at the VMA’s for their impact to the culture, record-breaking album sales, and opening the doors for women to express themselves however they wish to!
We cannot deny Left Eye’s influence on the many female rappers that she has paved the way for, and to see so many of them at the 2023 VMA’s as performers including Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj, was phenomenal! It is amazing to see how far female rap has come!
BLACKPINK are one of the biggest girl group’s out right now dominating the music scene since their inception back in 2016. Hailing from South Korea, BLACKPINK have managed to win their fans over with their infectious melodies and dance moves.
The group are a perfect combination of genres K-pop, hip-hop, R&B, trap and EDM. Although other K-pop girl groups have had success such as XG, BLACKPINK remain the biggest selling Korean girl group internationally.
Back in April, BLACKPINK members Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé took part in the series finale of Carpool Karoke with James Corden. During the episode, whilst elaborating on their musical influences, the ladies reveal that they drew inspiration from other legendary girl groups such as the Spice Girls and of course, the iconic TLC.
BLACKPINK ‘Born Pink’ tour (2023)
Like TLC, BLACKPINK had the triple threat ability to not only sing and dance, but also rap, with members Jennie and Lisa taking on the rapping within the group, as Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes did with TLC. They have previously collaborated with Cardi B on the single, “Bet You Wanna“.
Jennie explains why BLACKPINK were so inspired by TLC. “We loved TLC’s music,” Jennie said. “They had vocals, they had raps. Then they had a bit of hip-hop.” TLC’s fun personalities and individual style can also be seen as an influence in BLACKPINK.
The group were then delighted when they were offered the opportunity to sing along to one of their favorite TLC songs, “No Scrubs“, along with Corden.
TLC on tour in 2019
During the group’s initial creation, they would spend years in a boot camp-like training school, where they would spend countless hours rehearsing, performing and studying various music and groups like TLC and Spice Girls.
BLACKPINK are also a hugely successful touring act, managing to trump TLC’s record-breaking Fanmail tour sales which grossed $72.8m in 2000, an impressive feat despite the tour ending early. However, with over 85m album sales to date, it will take a while for another girl group to outsell the diamond-certified number one sales set by TLC.
TLC on the ‘Fanmail’ tour (2000)
It would be a huge economic success if the top girl groups of the world like BLACKPINK, TLC and the Spice Girls did a joint tour one day. It would be a unique blend of nostalgia meets the present — ultimate girl power!
‘TLC Forever‘ was three years in the making, initially announced in October 2020 and suffered major production delays due to the covid-19 pandemic. The final outcome was delivered officially to the world with a simulcast on both Lifetime and A&E on June 3, 2023.
The highly anticipated documentary was produced by the One Story Up production company, directed by Matt Kay and executive produced by Roger Ross Williams, as well as Bill Diggins and TLC.
The documentary delivered on it’s promise to delve deeper into the history of TLC, more than they have ever told before, told in the words of T-Boz and Chilli themselves. “And who better to tell it than us, while we’re still here to tell it”, T-Boz told Billboard.
TLC in 2001
The documentary has a unique perspective of capturing the raw reactions of Chilli, T-Boz and Diggins in a private screening, whilst they take time reminiscing about the past, as they watch the footage of themselves and add commentary and thoughts of what they were going through at the time. The footage was largely filmed by T-Boz on a camcorder that she carried around with her as they were on tour in the early days as well as lots of archive, behind the scenes footage, many never seen before.
From the beginning of the documentary, viewers are instantly kept on the edge of their seats, as the scene opens with an emotional T-Boz becoming upset while she reminisces about her struggles with her brain tumor diagnosis and subsequent surgery and recovery. Her main focus was to make it back so that she could continue to be a mother for her daughter, Chase Rolison.
“But she doesn’t want anyone to pity her,” Chilli tells Forbes, adding that she hopes the film will help viewers see that the women of TLC are human, that they aren’t just performers, and that not everything during the height of their career was smooth sailing. “I think that everyone will realize that we’ve never seen this side of Tionne before. I’m always crying, I’m a frequent crier, but in this she cried a lot.”
The synopsis for the documentary is set on documenting TLC’s journey as they prepare to perform at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, billed as their biggest gig to date. Fans are taken on an emotional roller coaster, as we witness the extra lengths TLC needs to go through in order to get through a show or a tour successfully, ensuring T-Boz gets the appropriate care and rest that she requires to prevent her health from declining.
Diehard fans were delighted to learn than the documentary also touched on the career of TLC beyond the passing of the beloved Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002. TLC revealed that the industry had turned on them once Left Eye passed and deemed TLC to be over. Although they were unhappy with L.A. Reid forcing them to complete the unfinished ‘3D’ album in favor of a greatest hits, the ladies made the most out of the situation and wanted to do the album justice, both for their fans and for Lisa.
TLC in 2000
In unreleased footage that was not included in the final release of the documentary, TLC can be seen in the studio working on songs for the ‘3D‘ album in 2001 with Raphael Saadiq with an unreleased TLC song, “Us“, playing in the background. T-Boz went on to explain why some of the original songs Lisa had completed before she died weren’t featured on the final release of the album.
“The ironic thing was, we did some songs that was unreleased by Raphael Saadiq, and there was this one song called “Us”, T-Boz explains. “It was talking about something happening to you and it wasn’t your time and thanking God. It was just an eerie song to listen to afterwards [after what had just happened to Lisa], and that’s why we didn’t use it because it was actually a good song, but it kinda spoke on what had just happened to her”.
TLC naturally went on hiatus after the release of ‘3D’ in 2002, giving them the chance to grieve the loss of Left Eye. They completed the album promo in 2003, ending with a performance at Z100’s Zootopia, billed as their final show ever. Fans across the world (including myself) made sure to be there at Giants Stadium in New Jersey to see TLC performing for the first, and potentially, last time, as a duo.
Fans were still hungry for TLC to continue, so they agreed to a reality talent show on UPN called ‘R U The Girl with T-Boz and Chilli‘ in 2005, which followed the ladies on a nationwide search for the perfect girl to perform a new song with them, “I Bet“, which the winner O’so Krispie did during the finale.
TLC in 2003
During the years that followed, Chilli recorded a couple of solo singles, launched her Bags By Chilli fashion line, became a Beachbody spokesperson and featured in her own reality show on VH1, ‘What Chilli Wants‘. T-Boz also recorded a couple of solo demos and during this downtime she encountered severe migraines and was later diagnosed with a brain tumor which took over three years of rehabilitation to become healthy again.
TLC took the opportunity to be the guest for Alicia Keys at the 2008 BET Awards, performing alongside SWV and En Vogue. T-Boz then became a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice in 2009 with Donald Trump, winning $20k for her chosen sickle cell charity in the process. TLC returned to the television screens in 2011 as guest performers on American Idol.
TLC on tour in 2021
T-Boz took part in her own reality show, ‘Totally T-Boz‘ in 2013. During this time TLC were also in talks for a potential comeback to the stage after successful spot dates in Japan and Las Vegas. The ladies were then approached by VH1 to executive produce their record breaking biopic, ‘CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story‘ in 2013.
The success of the biopic brought in a ton of new fans and a new wave of demand for the group. TLC enjoyed success on the festival circuit that year, performing at the Mixtape Festival and Drake‘s OVO Festival. The peak of that success reached when TLC were offered the opportunity to perform on VH1’s Super Bowl Blitz in 2014. With stakes so high, TLC put on the show of their lives and promoters were demanding to book TLC as a result of the high level of production and outstanding performance the ladies provided on the show.
With so many accolades and awards to their name, it would be easy to think TLC have completed their mission to dominate the industry. But not quite yet — as T-Boz says, “we’ve still got a lot to do!” This includes an upcoming TLC Broadway musical that is still in the works, as well as a possible animation based on the music of TLC and possibly a new reality show. Oh, and new music to accompany said projects, of course!
As a diehard fan, I can say that we would love to see TLC finally receive a place on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — long overdue! TLC also deserves a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We’d love to see more Lifetime Achievement Awards, too! Let’s speak these things into fruition and give the biggest girl group in the world their flowers!
TLC on tour in 2023
Catch TLC while you can on tour this summer on the ‘Hot Summer Nights‘ tour with Shaggy, En Vogue and Sean Kingston! Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com
Leon@TLCArmy
TLC-Army.com 