History Music / TLC

Billboard magazine ranked the group as one of the greatest musical trios of all time. They have had several #1 singles, including "Creep", "Waterfalls", "No Scrubs", and "Unpretty", and have won four Grammy Awards. According to the RIAA and Billboard, TLC has sold more than 30 million records in the United States, making them the biggest selling R&B girl group of all time. In 2008, the group was inducted into the All Time Hot 100 Artist Hall of Fame by Billboard, at 56th place. Their second album, ''[=CrazySexyCool=]'' (1994), was the first album by a female group to be awarded diamond certification by the RIAA, for selling over 11 million copies in the USA.

* 1994: ''[=CrazySexyCool=]''

* LyricalDissonance: The slow groove, funky rhythm and horn accents of their signature song, "Waterfalls", contrast with gritty, realistic lyrics about the toll of urban gang violence and AIDS. Even Left Eye's genuinely upbeat rap in the bridge is tempered by knowing that she was let out of rehab to record it after the incident with Andre Rison's house and the awareness of her later death in a car accident.

''''[=CrazySexyCool=]'''' eventually sold over 11 million copies in the US, and became one of the first albums to ever receive a diamond certification from the RIAA, and won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album and a 1996 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for "Creep". However, in the midst of their apparent success, the members of TLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 3, 1995.

In 1990, Atlanta, Georgia, teenager Crystal Jones put out a call for two more girls to join her in a trio to be called 2nd Nature. Her request was eventually answered by Tionne Watkins, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, who moved to Atlanta with her family at an early age, and Lisa Lopes, a rapper who had just moved to the city from her native Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with only a keyboard and $1,223 to her name. The group eventually managed to arrange an audition with R&B singer Perri "Pebbles" Reid, who had started her own management and production company, Pebbitone. Impressed by the girls, Reid renamed the group "TLC" (an acronym for "Tender Loving Care" and also the members' initials) and arranged an audition for them with local record label LaFace Records, run by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Reid's then-husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid. The latter Reid saw potential in Watkins and Lopes but felt that Jones should be replaced; within a few days, part-time Damian Dame backup dancer Rozonda Thomas was brought in to replace Jones. The girls were signed to LaFace through a production deal with Pebbitone (with Perri Reid taking the role of the group's manager) and almost immediately went into the studio with producers Reid and Edmonds, Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and Marley Marl to produce their first album.

The first TLC album, ''Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip'', was released in February 25, 1992 by LaFace. The songs on the album are a blend of funk (Watkins), hip-hop (Lopes), and R&B (Thomas), similar to the "new jack swing" sound popularized by producer Teddy Riley in the late 1980s; TLC's sound was dubbed "new jill swing". The album was a critical and commercial success, being certified quadruple-platinum within a year and launching a number of US Hot 100 top ten singles with "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg", "What About Your Friends", and "Baby-Baby-Baby."

They declared debts totaling 3.5 million dollars, much of it because of Lopes's insurance payments arising from the arson incident and Watkins's medical bills, but the primary reason being that each member of the group was taking home less than $35,000 a year after paying managers, producers, expenses, and taxes. They sought to renegotiate their 1991 contract with LaFace, under which they only received seven percent of the revenues from their album sales, and to dissolve their association with Pebbitone. Both Pebbitone and LaFace countered that TLC simply wanted more money and were in no real financial danger, resulting in two years of legal debates before the cases were finally settled in late 1996, which is why there was never a 96 follow up album to ''[=CrazySexyCool=]''. TLC's contract was renegotiated, their production deal with Pebbitone and Perri Reid (who had separated from her husband by this time) was rescinded, and the group appeared on the ''Film/WaitingToExhale'' soundtrack with "This Is How It Works" and was set to re-enter the recording studio in 1997 after signing a new contract with LaFace.

Preliminary work on TLC's third album, ''FanMail'', was delayed when friction arose between the group and their main producer Dallas Austin, who was by this time dating Thomas and helping to raise their young son Tron. Austin wanted $4.2 million and creative control to work on the project, resulting in a stand-off between the producer and the artists. TLC eventually began working with other producers for the ''[=FanMail=]'' album, until finally negotiating with Austin, who produced the bulk of ''[=FanMail=]'' and gave the album a futuristic, more pop-based feel. ''[=FanMail=]'' was another success for TLC, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart and selling over 6 million copies in the U.S. The album featured the number-one hit "No Scrubs", produced by Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, and the single "Unpretty," an alternative rock-styled song about self-love written by Watkins and Dallas Austin (another version of it sampled Dennis Edwards' 1984 hit "Don't Look Any Further"), that also reached #1 on the Billboard chart. At the Lady of Soul Awards the group was honored with the Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year Award.

In October 2009, TLC announced plans to record new material to be released [[RealSoonNow "sometime soon"]], later announcing a release date of October 2013. The album will contain the group's greatest hits and some new material. The same year, Creator/VH1 released a biopic based on the group entitled ''CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story'', starring Music/KekePalmer as Chilli, Drew Sidora as T-Boz, and rapper Lil Mama as Left-Eye. The movie became the top rated cable movie in VH-1 history. The group has sold over 50 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling female groups of all time.

** There's a safe-sex PSA at the end of ''Ooooh on the TLC Tip''. Justified in that is was recorded and released during the height of the [=AIDS=] epidemic.
** The second verse of "Waterfalls." Those "three letters" that took him to his final resting place? [[spoiler:HIV]].

In October 2009, TLC announced plans to record new material to be released [[RealSoonNow "sometime soon"]], later announcing a release date of October 2013. The album will contain the group's greatest hits and some new material. The same year, VH1 released a biopic based on the group entitled ''CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story'', starring Music/KekePalmer as Chilli, Drew Sidora as T-Boz, and rapper Lil Mama as Left-Eye. The movie became the top rated cable movie in VH-1 history. The group has sold over 50 million records worldwide, making them one of the best selling female groups of all time.

** The second verse of "Waterfalls." Those "three letters" that took him to his final resting place? [[spoiler:STD]].

* TheLadette: Invoked in many of the songs on ''Ooooh on the TLC Tip''.
* NewSoundAlbum: ''[=CrazySexyCool=]'' was a radical departure from the group's exuberant New Jack Swing sound as it was starting to fall out of favour with the public, opting for the laidback R&B the group are best known for today.

* SelfEmpowermentAnthem: They have many of these including "Bad By Myself" and "Depend on Myself".

* AWildRapperAppears: Happens in most of their songs due to having Left Eye in the group. [[Music/{{OutKast}} Andre 3000's]] presence in "Sumthin' Wicked This Way Comes" is particularly notable, since it showcases the wickedly fast and technical rapping style he would later become famous for.
* YourCheatingHeart: "Creep"

* AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle: There's a safe-sex PSA at the end of ''Ooooh on the TLC Tip''. Justified in that is was recorded and released during the height of the [=AIDS=] epidemic.

''Don't go chasing waterfalls,\\

* 2002: ''3D'' (Released after the death of Lisa Lopes)

* The'90s

* The90's

* The90s

* TheLadEtte: Invoked in many of the songs on ''Ooooh on the TLC Tip''.

* TomboyishSidetails: T-Boz sports these, even to this day.

* BeautyBrainsandBrawn: Had their own version of this in the form of their second album title, ''[=CrazySexyCool=]'', representing Left Eye, Chilli and T-Boz respectively.

** If one were to play this trope straight, it seems that Chilli would obviously be the beauty (object of many male fans' affection), Left Eye would surprisingly be the brains (came up with the name, look and concept for each album) and T-Boz would be the brawn (in a metaphorical sense, combating sickle cell and having a tough laid back demeanor in general).

** If one were to play this trope straight, it seems that Chilli would obviously be the beauty (object of many male fans' affection), Left Eye would surprisingly be the Brains (came up with the name, look and concept for each album) and T-Boz would be the brawn (in a metaphorical sense, combating sickle cell and having a tough laid back demeanor in general).

* BeautyBrainsandBrawn: Had their own version of this in the form of their second album title, CrazySexyCool, representing Left Eye, Chilli and T-Boz respectively.

* BeautyBrainsandBrawn: Had their own version of this in the form of their album title, CrazySexyCool with crazy being Left Eye, sexy representing Chilli and T-Boz is the cool.
** If one were play the trope straight, it seems that Chilli would obviously be the beauty (object of many male fans' affection), Left Eye would surprisingly be the Brains (came up with the name, look and concept for each album) and T-Boz would be the brawn (in a metaphorical sense, combating sickle cell and having a tough laid back demeanor in general).