Singer, Rapper. A member of the R&B-hip hop group, TLC, an acronym for its members: T-Boz (Tionne Watkins), Left Eye (Lisa), and Chilli (Rozanda Thomas). Lisa was born in the Logan section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a career United States Army staff sergeant father, who was reportedly strict. He was also a multi-instrumentalist. As a result of his U.S. Army career, the family moved around frequently. According to her obituary in the Philadelphia Daily News, Lisa described her upbringing in this way: "I was an Army brat, so I grew up in … black neighborhoods … white neighborhoods, I lived in Panama, where it was predominately Spanish people or Army kids. It was very multicultural for me as a child." She moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1990 looking for success in the music business. The following year, producer Perri "Pebbles" Reid, herself a singer who scored a multi-platinum album in 1988 with her self-titled debut, put the group together. At the time, Pebbles was married to fellow R&B singer and producer, L.A. Reid. In 1992, the group released their debut album, Ooooooohhh … On the TLC Tip, the title coming from Lisa's rap on the last line of "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg." The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart in 1992. It would later move to #3 in 1995. It spawned the hit singles, "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" and "What About Your Friends." It has been certified four times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for four million units (copies) sold. But it was TLC's sophomore effort, CrazySexyCool, released in 1994, that would propel the group to international superstardom and help make them the best-selling female group in music history, even surpassing The Supremes (although The Supremes have 12 number one hits to TLC's four). The album spawned the hits, "Creep," "Waterfalls," and "Red Light Special" among others. Lopes was considered "Crazy," Thomas "Sexy," and Watkins was "Cool." In 2019, CrazySexyCool received a Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales totaling 12 million. The group's image was imprinted in the public's collective consciousness when Lisa took to sporting a condom over her left eye to promote safe sex. She would carry the nickname of "Left Eye" for the rest of her life. Although her obituary in The New York Times (NYT) claimed it was a boyfriend who noticed her left eye was slightly larger than her right one, and that the nickname was born that way. After the group's initial success, Lisa took to sporting a black stripe under her left eye. TLC's third album, FanMail, was released on February 23rd, 1999 and debuted at #1. It was certified 6x Platinum in June 2000. The album featured the hits, "Dear Lie," "Unpretty," and "No Scrubs," the latter song of which spawned an "answer" song, "No Pidgeons," by the male R&B group, Sporty Thievz. Despite the phenomenal success of the group, they filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1995 and fought with their record label and management over royalties. They eventually got a new contract. In 1994, Lisa was charged with arson for torching the Atlanta mansion of her boyfriend, NFL wide receiver Andre Rison, after an argument. She pled guilty, paid a $10,000 fine, was sentenced to a halfway house, and placed on five years' probation. The couple's relationship problems attracted tabloid attention, but, they were reportedly discussing marriage the year before Lisa died. Lopes was once quoted as saying, "Me and Andre just have a bond that no one will understand. Sometimes, even I don't." Infighting within the group became more public as the 1990s progressed. At one point, Lopes challenged Watkins and Thomas to release solo albums to see who the public liked best. Lisa released one solo album during her life, Supernova (2001), but it was not released in the United States. Each member later stated they were sisters and that the fights were part of being a family. Shortly before her death, Lisa reportedly signed with now former producer Marion "Suge" Knight, co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records, and was planning to use a new stage name, "N.I.N.A.," street slang for a 9 mm handgun, but, according to her, it stood for "New Identity Not Applicable." Despite the group's public squabbles, they were working on a new album at the time of Lisa's death. The group's fourth album, 3D, was released on October 10th, 2002, and went Platinum two months later. Despite TLC's monster success, Lisa never forgot her hometown and had a strong relationship with her fans. In 1999, she attended the senior prom as the date of TLC fan Malcolm Blair at Strawberry Mansion High School in Philadelphia. In April 2002, Lisa went to Honduras on a spiritual retreat. Among other things, she was filming a documentary, developing a clothing line, preparing her autobiography, and working on nonprofit child educational centers for Honduran children, according to her obituary in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Shortly before her own death, a car in which Lisa was a passenger in, but driven by her assistant, accidentally killed a little boy with the same surname as hers, although spelled Lopez. She was quoted as saying a spirit was trying to get her and killed the boy by mistake, confused by their similar surnames. On the day she died, Lisa was driving a rented Mitsubishi Montero SUV. A car stopped in front of her and she swerved to avoid a collision. The SUV then rolled over and landed upside down. Lisa was the lone fatality of the four passengers, having died instantly due to a head injury upon being thrown from the car. She was being filmed by a passenger at the time of the accident, and the camera cut off at the moment of impact. Lopes' death came exactly eight months to the day of fellow singer, Aayliah, who died at the age of 22 in an airplane crash. The documentary of the final 27 days of her life, "The Last Days of Left Eye," documented her life in Honduras and her interests in esoteric topics such as numerology and yoga. It was released in 2007 on VH1 and VH1 Soul. A posthumous album, Eye Legacy was released in 2009. It featured unreleased material as well as songs featured on Supernova, in addition to new guest singers and new production. The Lisa Lopes Foundation's motto is, "Energy never dies. It just transforms." According to the Foundation's website, its mission "…is dedicated to assisting families in need, with a focus on educating and helping individuals implement a more holistic way of life…"