Having a platinum-selling album and several videos in heavy rotation on MTV is no guarantee against financial disaster. The latest to prove this maxim is TLC, the phenomenally successful female Pop/R&B trio whose latest CD, "CrazySexyCool," is number four on Billboard's Hot 200 list. On July 3, all three of the group's young members filed individually for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta, where the group is based. Their total liabilities were listed as over $3.5 million. "They have recording contracts, mortgages, you name it," said their lawyer, David Bisbee, in an interview.Best known for their hits, "Baby, Baby, Baby" and "Creep," TLC has sold over 6 million albums since their 1992 debut. Their current release has spawned three top-ten singles. The largest listed creditor is Lloyd's of London, owed $1.3 million by rapper Lisa Lopes, known to fans as Left Eye. The amount is a claim against her for burning down the home of her boyfriend, former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Andre Rison. Last December, Lopes pleaded guilty to arson and was sentenced to several months in a halfway house. Other creditors include the group's record and production companies. Neither the group nor their label would comment.
--LG
From People Magazine
July 19, 1995