Lisa Nicole Lopes (also known as “Left Eye”) was born on May 27, 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She was highly thought of as a creative and spiritual rapper, singer, songwriter, friend, daughter, and sister.  At the beginning of her career, she was a member of a female trio called Second Nature.  The group eventually changed their name to TLC, which are the first initials of the three founding members, Tionne, Lisa, and Crystal. Crystal ended up not working out for the group, which in turn brought in singer Rozonda Thomas.  To maintain the theme of the band’s name, Thomas took on the nickname “Chilli”.  Tionne ended up taking on the name T-boz, while Lisa renamed herself “Left Eye”.  Lisa took the name “Left Eye” after she was once told she had beautiful eyes, but her left eye was particularly beautiful. 

The group first appeared on the music scene in 1992 with the album Ooooooohhh.... On the TLC Tip.  The album sold 6 million copies worldwide and acquired 3 hit singles. After a few years, TLC came back with the album that would critically acclaim them as one of the biggest female groups of all time.  CrazySexyCool sold over 15 million copies worldwide, winning the group the 1996 Grammy Award for Best R&B album and is considered one of the 500 greatest records of all time according to Rolling Stone Magazine.  TLC’s third album, Fanmail was released in 1999 and was also a commercial success; the album sold over 10 million copes worldwide and took home two Grammy’s for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B album.  After the success of Fanmail, Lopes began to expand on her solo career.

“Left Eye” was a featured rapper on several artists’ records during her solo career, including Melanie C, Donell Jones, *NSYNC, and Toni Braxton.  She spent much of her free time after the headlining tour of Fanmail recording her debut solo album, Supernova.  The album was only released to limited territories outside the United States.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was working on both her second solo album and songs for the fourth TLC album, 3D, when she began a spiritual retreat in Honduras.  Honduras was Lisa’s “home away from home” where she went to get away from the chaos of the media and press.  Lisa wanted to film a documentary during this retreat so her fans could get a glimpse into her life.  With only a few days left of filming, Lisa was tragically killed in a car accident in La Ceiba, Honduras on April 25th, 2002.  She was only 30 years old.  Her funeral was held at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia.  Over 30,000 fans came from all over the world to say goodbye to the Hip-Hop and R&B icon.  Engraved upon her white casket was her verse from “Waterfalls”:

“Dreams are hopeless aspirations, in hopes of coming true, believe in yourself, the rest is up to me and you”