Left Eye: We Still Miss You!

Left Eye is still a legend.

Lisa Nicole Lopes, a member of the R&B group TLC was tragically killed on April 25, 2002 in Honduras.

Lopes was known as Left Eye. She was an American singer, rapper, actress and business mogul. She was only 30 years old when she was killed in a car crash while organizing a charity work in the country. She was working on a documentary when she died from injuries after being thrown out of the vehicle.

When Left Eye joined Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chill" Thomas in an open casting call, Perri Reid, then wife of media mogul and alleged sexual predator Antonio "L.A." Reid was impressed by the three women. She developed them to become pop icons and gave them the deal to sign to LaFace Records.

LaFace was started by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid, then members of R&B group The Deele. Lopes, a native of Philadelphia moved to Atlanta to get build her singing and rapping talents. 

Left Eye said that she got the name after Michael Bivins, one of the producers at the time and member of New Edition flirted with her. Left Eye had a squinty eye (lazy eye) and wore glasses in the past. She used a patch with a condom on to champion safer sex. 

The group released their debut album Ooooooohh... On the TLC Tip. It had four hits and soled over six million copies worldwide, leading the group becoming a household name. 

TLC came through the 1990s like a lion.

Left Eye would soon find love with a cheater. She dated former Atlanta Falcons star Andre Rison. She moved in with him and his two children in a luxury home. Left Eye accused Rison of cheating and abuse. When the allegations were not heard, she ended up becoming embolden with alcohol. She ended up getting his closet and grabbed a handful of shoes pour lighter fluid and her liquor on them. She would start a fire and it got out of control. The home would be burned down. Left Eye was criminally charged with arson and malicious destruction of property. Rison decided to not go forward with criminal intent and Left Eye was given five years of in-house and hefty fine. They ended up breaking up and sometimes reuniting during her final years.

Left Eye would end up going to rehab to get treated for depression, alcoholism and possible drug abuse.

As TLC was preparing for their second album, CrazySexyCool, Left Eye was notably absent from some of the album because of her stint in rehab and in-house. It almost led to the group breaking up.

However, Left Eye was studying the music of Tupac Shakur and Kurupt. She decided to develop the N.I.N.A. persona (New Identity Not Applicable). So instead of working with T-Boz and Chilli, Left Eye decided to pursue a solo career to build up her image as the "bad girl" of the group.

Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas were found by R&B singer Pebbles. She made them famous.

She appeared as features in Lil' Kim's "Not Tonight (Ladies Night)" with Angie Martinez and Da Brat, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. She appeared on Keith Sweat's "Do You Like It?" and "Freedom" on the Black Panther (docudrama) soundtrack. She was nominated for a Grammy because of that single.

Left Eye was hoping to score a solo career in hip-hop as N.I.N.A. under Death Row Records. That move didn't work well with T-Boz and Chilli. They felt that her issues were causing the group to become toxic. So they distanced themselves from her after they released their album Fanmail.

Left Eye was upset and called them out. She said that Dallas Austin didn't give her the opportunities she wanted and felt that the group would better without her. She challenged T-Boz and Chilli to release solo projects and match up to hers and make it a 3-disc album. 

Chilli said that Left Eye's antics were out of control and felt it was selfish and heartless for her speak out against the group and make noise.

So they decided to take a hiatus. Left Eye would end pursuing her own version of TLC by creating Blaque. The group released their first album with Left Eye executive producing it.

Rest well Left Eye.

Then she released her only solo album Supernova. The album was shelved because of Arista and LaFace Records put a hold on the album's release through Death Row. It was released on the streaming sites.

Left Eye also had an opportunity to be in acting, she appeared in House Party III and hosted MTV's The Cut. She also had interest in making a TLC-like group called Egypt. She even thought about adopting children.

At the peak of her life, she was developing a documentary about her life struggles and finding peace in Honduras. She was driving a rented Mitsubishi Montero when she swerved to avoid a truck. She turned sharply to the left and the car flipped. It rolled three times and landed on the trees. Left Eye was severely injured. She was not wearing a seatbelt and sustained blunt force trauma.

She was buried in Atlanta's suburb of Lithonia. Her funeral was covered by MTV and BET. 

Her two former members Chilli and T-Boz shared their memories about her. 

This will be the 20th anniversary of her passing. I wanted to give you a brief history and legacy of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. She was a young talent lost too early. Never taking her break off the rise to stardom, Left Eye left us a part of hip-hop culture, conscience and sobriety. 

We miss you Left Eye. Rest well.