Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), also known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besides rapping on TLC recordings, Lopes was the creative force behind the group, receiving more co-writing credits than the other members. She also designed some of their outfits and the stage for their FanMail Tour and contributed to the group's image, album titles, artworks, and music videos. Through her work with TLC, Lopes won four Grammy Awards.
During her brief solo career, Lopes scored two US top 10 singles with "Not Tonight" and "U Know What's Up", as well as one UK number-one single with "Never Be the Same Again", the latter a collaboration with Melanie C of the English girl group Spice Girls. She also produced another girl group, Blaque, who scored a platinum album and two US top 10 hits. Lopes remains the only member of TLC to have released a solo album.
In 2002, Lopes was killed in a car crash in Honduras while volunteering at a children's development center. Lopes lost control of her rental SUV when she swerved to avoid a truck. She was the only one not wearing a seatbelt; four other passengers were injured enough to require hospitalization. The documentary The Last Days of Left Eye was released and aired on VH1 in May 2007.
Early life
Lisa Nicole Lopes was born on May 27, 1971, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Wanda (née Andino), a seamstress, and Ronald Lopes Sr., a US Army staff sergeant. She was raised in Logan, Philadelphia.
Lisa has a younger brother, Ronald Jr., and a younger sister, Raina (nicknamed Reigndrop). Lopes said her father was "very strict, very domineering" and that he treated the family like they were in "boot camp".
Lopes' parents separated when she was still in school, and her paternal grandmother raised her during the later years of her childhood. She began playing with a toy piano at five years old, and later composed her own songs. By age 10, Lopes formed the musical trio The Lopes Kids with her siblings, with whom she performed gospel songs at local events and churches. In an interview with The Independent, Lopes said that at 14 she was moved after hearing the Queen Latifah and Monie Love song "Ladies First". Lopes moved to Atlanta to dance in an artist's music video. Things did not work out with Jones, and TLC's manager Perri "Pebbles" Reid brought in Damian Dame backup dancer Rozonda Thomas as a third member of the group. To preserve the band's original name, Thomas needed a name starting with C, which is how she became "Chilli", a name chosen by Lopes. Watkins became T-Boz, derived from the first letter of her first name and "Boz" (slang for "boss"). Lopes was renamed "Left Eye" after a compliment from her friend, New Edition member Michael Bivins, who once told her he was attracted to her because of her left eye, which was more slanted than her right eye. Lopes emphasized her nickname by wearing a pair of glasses with the right lens covered by a condom in keeping with the group's support of safe sex, wearing a black stripe under her left eye, and eventually getting her left eyebrow pierced.
During and after the release of FanMail, Lopes made it known to the press on multiple occasions that she felt that she was unable to express herself in TLC fully. Her contributions to songs had been reduced to periodic eight-bar raps, and there were several songs in which she had no vocals. Studio session singers such as Debra Killings often sang background vocals for the group's songs. In the May 1999 issue of Vibe magazine, Lopes said, "I've graduated from this era. I cannot stand 100 percent behind this TLC project and the music that is supposed to represent me." In response to Lopes' comments, Watkins and Thomas stated to Entertainment Weekly that Lopes "doesn't respect the whole group" and "Left Eye is only concerned with Left Eye." In response, Lopes sent a reply through Entertainment Weekly issuing a "challenge" to Watkins and Thomas to release solo albums and let the fans decide the winner of TLC. Not only would it be entertaining, but more importantly, the three albums would fulfill their contractual obligations and end their deal with LaFace Records:
Watkins and Thomas were unconvinced by the strategy behind 'The Challenge' and declined to take up the offer, though Lopes remained firm in her support for the idea. Things were heated between the band for some time, with Thomas speaking out against Lopes, calling her antics "selfish", "evil", and "heartless". TLC then addressed these struggles by saying that they are very much like sisters who have their disagreements every now and then as Lopes explained, "It's deeper than a working relationship. We have feelings for each other, which is why we get so mad at each other. I usually say that you cannot hate someone unless you love them. So, we love each other. That's the problem."
1998–2002: Solo career
In 1998, Lopes hosted the short-lived MTV series The Cut, in which a list of aspiring pop stars, rappers, and rock bands competed against each other in front of judges. The show's winner, which ended up being a male-female rap duo named Silky, was promised a record deal and funding to produce a music video, which would then enter MTV's heavy rotation. A then-unknown Anastacia finished in third place, but ended up securing a record deal after Lopes and the show's three judges were impressed by her performance.
Lopes created Left Eye Productions to discover new talent. Their self-titled debut album was executive-produced by Lopes, who also made a cameo appearance in their music video "808" and also rapped in their second music video "I Do". Lopes was also developing and promoting another new band called Egypt. They worked with Lopes on her second album under her new nickname, N.I.N.A., meaning New Identity Not Applicable. She was also featured on Method Man's second album Tical 2000: Judgement Day on the song "Cradle Rock".
In 2000, Lopes became a featured rapper on several singles, including Spice Girls Melanie C's "Never Be the Same Again", which topped the charts in 35 countries, including the United Kingdom. She was also featured on "U Know What's Up", the first single from Donell Jones' second album, Where I Wanna Be, and she rapped a verse in "Space Cowboy" with NSYNC on their 2000 album, No Strings Attached. On October 4, 2000, Lopes co-hosted the UK's MOBO Awards with Trevor Nelson, where she also performed "U Know What's Up" with Jones. She also collaborated on "Gimme Some" by Toni Braxton for her 2000 album The Heat. She had previously featured on Keith Sweat's song "How Do You Like It?". In 2001, she appeared in a commercial for the fashion brand Gap. In July 2001, Lopes appeared on the singers' edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire along with Joey McIntyre, Tyrese, Nick Lachey, and Lee Ann Womack. She dropped the $125,000 question and won $32,000 for her charity. After her death in 2002, the episode she appeared in was shown in dedication to her.
In 2008, Lopes' family opened UNI Studios, which she had created for the purpose of recording solo projects, to the public. Her brother Ronald is the general manager of the studio. Lopes had a dream of making new artists able to record music at a low cost, in a high-end studio at her house. Her family continues to operate it and fill it with new equipment.
Supernova
Lopes spent much of her free time after the conclusion of TLC's first headlining tour, the FanMail Tour, recording her debut solo album, Supernova. It includes a song titled "A New Star is Born", which is dedicated to her late father. She told MTV News: