by Anne M. Raso
As they revealed backstage at the Grammy Awards, TLC will be taking to the concert trail this summer--a trek that will only continue to keep their nine-times-platinum Crazysexycool on the pop and R&B album charts. So how did Rozonda "Chilli Thomas, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins do at the Grammys this year? They walked off with two prestigious awards, Best R&B Album, and Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group Performance With Vocals for their #1 smash "Creep." Meanwhile, "Waterfalls," their #1 socially-concious song which contains a cautionary tale about AIDS, was cited as the song that best represents their generation, a distinction made by 20,000 sixth through ninth graders, in a new survey by the publicshers of Scholastic Magazine.
For TLC, the award season is hardly over. At presstime, their unstoppable Crazysexycool album--the largest selling album ever by an all-female group--was up for four awards at the Soul Train Music Awards set to take place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles: Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo ("Waterfalls"); Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video ("Waterfalls"); R&B Soul or Rap song of the Year("Waterfalls"); R&B Soul Album of the Year, Group, Band or Duo. As for TLC concert dates, stay tuned for news in the next issue of WORD UP!
Right now, their preparing for their summer tour and planning on releasing a follow up to their recent hit, "Diggin' On You"--you might say it's the last "breather" before they travel around the world and cause bedlam everywhere they go.
In other TLC news, Chilli recently met her long-lost father for the very first time, and a sister and a brother she didn't know she had on the Sally Jessy Raphael show. How did the meeting come about? Sally Jessy's producers saw Chilli talk about her unknown parentage on an MTV Past, Present and Future special last year, and decided to search out her father with Chilli's blessing.
Obviously, the women have come a long way since releasing their debut LP three years ago. 1995 marked the release of the group's second album, Crazysexycool, and their new attitude and image. Gone were the childish oversized overalls with condoms pinned on the straps, they were thinking more about getting their own prime-time series (which is still in the talk stage).
TLC singlehandly put Atlanta on the musical map and have opened doors for dozens of artists in the past three years. Without trying to sound cliche, TLC is a legendary group--but as they say, they are only halfway home and there are personal matters to to tend to, right now--Arista/LaFace Records spokespeople are predicting that Left Eye will be finally marrying her longtime boyfriend, Andre Rison, this summer. How she will take the time off the road to do it is another matter entirely.
As "crazy" Left Eye concludes with a smile, "This group is always growing and changing--and you never know what we're going to do next. But no matter where we go or what we do, it's the fans who put us here. We'll always love them and do what we can for them! We may seem like we just wanna have a good time and party, but we're responsible as well. Our fans are the best, and should be treated accordingly."
From Word Up! Magazine July 1996